


Beware That Bump in The Night

by Krasimer



Series: For Many Years We've Been All Alone [1]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: AU, Evolution of characters, F/F, Let's say that Fazbear entertainment started in the 50's, M/M, Multi, Other, Serial murderers don't stop until they're caught, What makes you think he only killed five?, With the creepy costumes they used to make actors wear for characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-03 10:01:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2846978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The history of Freddy Fazbear entertainment is a grim one. With the death of five children staining the happy memories of the once popular restaurant chain, you have to wonder a few things.</p><p>1.) What happened to the victim of the bite of '87?<br/>2.) Why are the animatronics coming after you?<br/>and finally,<br/>3.) What makes you think that someone who killed five children was going to stop at that small of a number?</p><p>Well, why don't you find out?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In 1957, the very first "Freddy Fazbear's" opened it's doors. 

The tone of the era was accepting and recovering from the tragedy that had rocked the world a little more than a decade before, and it was decided by the owner that perhaps a friendly place for children and adults alike would be a good idea. Fredbear's Family Diner opened with a good idea in mind and a neat little restaurant with employees dressed as the four main mascots.

The first four people employed to dress as the characters also doubled as guards. This was continued until it became tradition: When a new character actor was hired, they would also be hired on as a security guard, to keep the families that visited the restaurant feeling safe in the aftermath of World War Two.

In 1966, nearly twelve years after the doors opened for the first time, the hiring practices changed with the addition of a new manager. A quartet of teenagers was hired, three boys and a girl. The girl was named Lenora Quail, and she made an almost perfect Chica the Chicken. The three boys were named Jeremy Fitzgerald, Harvey Gersh, and William Bradect. 

Jeremy Fitzgerald was hired on as the namesake of the restaurant, Freddy Fazbear. The other boys were hired to dress up as Bonnie the Bunny and Foxy the Fox. 

William Bradect, being a born theater actor, was a tall thin boy, nearly six foot eight at the age of seventeen, and he played the part of Foxy, ushering in a story about pirates and adventures on the seven seas. Harvey Gersh, a shy and nervous boy, was hired as Bonnie, helped by the fact that he could actually play the guitar that came with the part.

The first near decade of business brought nothing but good for the Freddy Fazbear restaurant, and two more locations were quickly opened as the years passed. As the business grew, animatronics replaced the actors in costume, allowing them to be paid a fairer amount for the work they were doing as they were bumped down to waiters and simply guards.

It wasn't until 1968 that the first of several missteps happened.

One morning, when the opening shift opened the doors to clock in, they found the mangled body of Rebecca Fitzgerald. Instead of reporting it right away, her older brother Jeremy stopped his coworkers from calling it in and sat with the body until one of the others broke down and called it in. When the police arrived, along with the ambulance, they wrote a quick report of it. The ambulance drove away silently, the sirens unused, leaving Jeremy standing at the stoop of the restaurant with his fellow workers.

When asked about his behavior after the incident, William Bradect was quoted as saying, "He kind of...Went away, after we found his sister's body. Like he was still there, but he wasn't anymore, you know? I guess it must have been the stress of it, or the fact that his family fell apart, but afterwards he always had this kind of creepy smile."

Nineteen at the time of his sister's death, Jeremy continued being employed by Fredbear's diner, despite his family moving away.

The next misstep was when the manager refused to help the police locate several missing local children, all of whom had last been seen at the diner. When he furthered refused, even after they brought a warrant, he was handcuffed and stuffed into the back of their patrol car, swearing up a storm the entire way.

After Rebecca's death and the disappearance of the other children, some of the animatronics had to be retired after just three years of usage. Employees would report being watched at night, even going so far as to say that the animatronics were following them as they wandered around their stage.

Of the original eighteen animatronics, fourteen of them had to be retired. The familiar faces that had graced the diner for years were never to be seen again once they had been retired. Officially, they were retired because of too much damage to their endoskeletons and their suits, making them too pricey to replace.

Those who were watching from the outside, however, were whispering stories of murdered children, children who had never been found once they disappeared. Children whose ghosts were haunting the building that they had died in, the animatronics they had once loved.

It wasn't until 1987 that Jeremy Fitzgerald, working at the second location now as the night guard, was arrested for the kidnapping of five children from the area. Despite getting a confession out of him, police could not get him to confess to where he had taken them, or what had might have done with their bodies. At the age of thirty-eight, Jeremy appeared to have gone mad, shouting obscenities as they hauled him away.

Before he could go to trial, they found him hanging in his cell, a wound on his arm most likely the source of the blood he had used to write on the wall. Jeremy Fitzgerald's last written words were, "You will Never find them".

Harvey Gersh, the original Bonnie the Bunny actor, replaced him as the night guard, changing over from the day shift. Despite having gone to school with the man, he was quoted as saying, "I never actually liked him, he was always a bit of a bully in school. It wasn't too bad of...Well...Let's just say that he and a lot of people didn't get along."

It was the next day that Foxy the Pirate Fox was retired, having fallen on a child, jaw snapping shut on their head.

Eye witness reports tell of blood seeping out of the four remaining animatronics. Despite being cleaned several times, Freddy, Bonnie and Chica all remained blood stained and mucus covered. After the arrest of Jeremy, the two other locations of Freddy Fazbear entertainment closed down, leaving only the original building standing. Now that they had a band of three, however, they had a wall that had been built the section it off, hiding the old stage from view, leaving just enough space for the three remaining to stand. 

After the incident with Foxy, the animatronics were restricted to the stage during the day.

At night, however, they were allowed to wander around in "Free roaming mode". This decision was followed with reports of, at first, the animatronics staring into the cameras at random times during the night guard's shift. Shortly after that was when the guards started going missing, only to be found shoved face first into an animatronic suit when the morning crew showed up.

In time it became protocol to clean the building, then report the "Missing person", allowing for complete lack of responsibility on the restaurant's part. Whenever a new night guard was hired, Harvey Gersh took it upon himself to give the spiel the company had created. Despite being employed by the company at the time that it had occurred, Harvey was not completely aware of how the incident that came to be known as the "Bite of '87" had happened.

And thus, we come to 1997.

Freddy Fazbear entertainment is in shambles, the single remaining restaurant running with a minimal staff and an even smaller budget. The original location is all that is left from the glory days, and the owner, Fredrick Fazio, has killed himself.

Due to the rumors and stories surrounding the once popular chain, they are having trouble finding people to work the night shift, leading to a desperate ad in the newspaper, offering a meager one hundred and twenty a week. 

A young man, desperate for cash and worried about his future, took the job. 

That man's name is Mike Schmidt. He's twenty-two years old, struggling to find work without a college education, and is very worried about where his rent is coming from, along with if he'll have enough food to not starve to death.


	2. You Cannot Run

**Night One, 11:30 PM:**

Mike took a deep breath, pulled the key ring from his bag, then nodded once before sticking the right key into the lock and turning it slowly.

It made a sound that felt like his stomach dropping into his leg, and he felt a cold breeze brush over the back of his neck. If he listened closely, he could almost trick his mind into thinking that he could hear someone calling his name. He looked over his shoulder, pursing his lips and shoving the hair out of his face. 

"Alright Mike, just calm the hell down." he breathed in through his nose, squaring his shoulders and pushing the door open.

Inside, in the light of the street lamp behind him, he could see the main stage. Across the room was the dark blob that he knew was Pirate Cove, an 'Out of Order' sign hanging in front of the curtain like it had since he was younger. He could still see the light from the office coming down the hallway, the last of the dinner shift clocking out and hurrying home to eat or get dinner or do something other than be inside the last remaining Fazbear restaurant. 

"Mike?" 

He turned at his name, already tucking the keys back into his bag. "Mister Orsani. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Nah, you're good kid." Orsani nodded, stepping closer, an almost nervous energy hanging around his shoulders, tongue peeking out to wet his lips. "I just wanted to make sure that you're ready to start work here at Fredbear's. This is the original location, y'know? It's a good old place, and it's never deserved the reputation it got." 

"...Reputation?" Mike stepped back, an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

Orsani shook his head, a frantic look on his face as Mike backed away. "Nothing, nothing at all." he waved away Mike's concerned look, then put a hand on his shoulder and guided him down to the office, past the closed curtain of Pirate Cove. As they passed, Mike saw it twitch out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look back, however, it lay still, as if it had never moved.

'Must have been an air current...' he thought, turning to look at his feet as they moved, very aware of the fact that if he didn't, Orsani might drag him off of them.

With a flourish and a slight shove to Mike's shoulder, Orsani presented him to the room. "Well, folks, this here is Mike. Schmidt, if you care to know. He's our new night guard."

Instantly, the looks being leveled at him changed. They ranged from barely hidden confusion to horror that clung to shreds of insanity. "...He's our new night guard?" one of the others spoke finally, a girl with long red hair pulled back into a braid. "Seriously?" she turned to the rest of them, rolling her eyes as she looked away. "Bets, bets, place your bets. He won't last a week."

"Now Brianna, we have talked about saying things like that in front of the new workers..." Orsani chided, wagging a finger at her. "Mike, this here is Riley," he gestured to a younger male with short blue hair. "Artem," the next person motioned at was a tall black youth, an androgynous quality about their face as they nodded at him. " Michelle," was a busty young woman who had a few grease stains on her arms. "and of course, Brianna." the red head gave a halfhearted shrug. 

Artem stepped forward, patting sympathetically at his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mike," they reassured him, voice hitting the register directly between tellingly male or female. "Bri's just like that with everyone." As if directed by a silent signal, the entire group of them filed out of the office and past Mike, each one offering a nervous smile or frown, not a one of them meeting his eyes.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Orsani nodded at them, checking his watch. "Well, that's that I guess. That's the last of the crew that you'll be seeing each night, and they'll probably warm up to you the longer you work here."

Mike suppressed the shudder that tried to roll across his back, swallowing down the sudden spike of fear that tried to work it's way out of his mouth in the form of a scream. Opting instead for a polite nod, he watched the man walk out of the room.

"Well," he whispered as he checked the time. The clock read 11:37 in glaringly bright numbers on the wall. "There goes the last human I'll see until six tomorrow."

He sat himself down in the chair, his bag going on the floor next to him. On the desk in front of him was a tablet, the ominously black screen calling for him to check the cameras. With a shake of his head, he snagged it and leaned back, sighing as he flicked it on. "C'mon, of course nothing's going to happen tonight. It'll be fine!" he hissed those last words, sounding less like a reassured man and more like he was trying to convince himself.

 

**Night One, 12:00 AM:**

The phone rang, a startlingly loud noise in the quiet of the restaurant after hours. 

Mike's eyes bugged out slightly as he looked at it, debating whether or not to pick it up. Something clicked before he could make a decision, and he heard what sounded like the voice of an older man. Despite the crackling connection, he could make out the hint of nerves in the other man's voice.

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"

"...Okay." Mike made a face, checking the cameras quickly before focusing in on the voice. 

"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, 'Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.'"

Mike sat up in his seat, eyes going wide again as he listened, jaw dropping slowly. "What."

"Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad,"

"It does!" Mike shrieked at the machine, gripping the armrests of his chair so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"I know, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay."

With a flabbergasted expression on his face, Mike could only sit there as the message played on, obviously recorded beforehand. 

"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

Mike shook his head. "I...I'm not sure that you CAN live without your frontal lobe." He reached up absentmindedly, fingers brushing over a spot hidden underneath both his hair and his uniform hat.

"Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-"

The ugly halfway pause made his stomach flip.

"Most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh."

"Oh, only Death." Mike flapped his hands at the machine, forehead furrowing. "Discomfort and death, what a trip in the park!"

"Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."

Mike heard the click as the machine shut off, the call ending, and rubbed a hand roughly down his face. "There has got to be a better solution than this..." he muttered, looking at the clock. "Rent has to be easier to achieve somewhere else, anywhere else."

As he looked up to the clock to see the numbers, he spotted the reflective light hovering about seven feet in the air. As he leaned forward to focus on it, he realized that they were the eyes of one of the animatronics he was there to guard. 

It leaned further into the room, and he saw that it was Bonnie, the giant purple rabbit that was part of the band that made up one of the few reasons the restaurant still held attention. His pulse spiked, his heart in his throat, and he leapt for the door button.

It slammed down with a startling finality, closing that half of the office off from the rest of the world.

Mike breathed a soft sigh of relief, rubbing at his eyes with one hand, flicking through the camera views with the other. "What the actual hell have I gotten myself into?" he hissed, fisting his hand in his hair. On the camera, he could see that Freddy was still on the stage, but his head had turned to face Mike. For a second, he could have sworn that Freddy was looking directly at him. 

"...This is not good." 

Checking the lights, he realized that Bonnie was gone, and he hesitated over the door button, pushing it slowly. When it slammed back upwards, he nodded, then turned to check the other side. Flickering the lights, he squeaked in fear as he saw Chica, closing the door in her face and curling up into his chair. When he checked the time, he almost cried. 

The clock read 12:25.

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Mike sighs, closing his eyes for a moment. On the screen of the tablet, there was a power meter telling him he was using what was probably too much energy. He looked up at the door, flicking on the lights and breathing slowly when he realized that Chica was gone. 

He got up, looking carefully at the door in the frame. It looked like a blast door, something ex-military, and it made him feel less than reassured. As long as there was power, the magnetic strip at the bottom of it would keep it closed, but the moment the generator ran down, it would slam open and prevent him from getting trapped in the building in case of fire. They were designed to be impenetrable as long as there was power. 

Mike guessed that they would still not prevent his death if it were to occur.

Sitting back down, Mike balanced the tablet on his knees, pulling them up to his chest and digging his heels into the edge of the seat. "I'll be okay," he whispered, trying to focus on anything other than the fact that he was locked in an empty building with murderous animatronics that had apparently killed several people before him by stuffing them into empty suits. "I'll be fine."

 

**Night One, 3:35 AM:**

Surprisingly, the last couple of hours had passed without too many visits from Bonnie or Chica. 

Freddy and Foxy were seemingly content to stay where they were as long as he could see them, camera view flicking around the building. Mike was about to pull the food that he had brought with him for what now counted as 'Lunch' in the middle of his shift when he heard his name being called. It was followed by a couple of thumps on the wall, and for a moment, he had the impossible thought that the animatronics had learned his name.

He turned to look at both of the doors, reaching out and clicking both buttons at once. 

They slammed shut in unison, the noise more reassuring this time, and he nodded before reaching down for his bag. Inside was a simple sandwich and an apple, tucked in against a bottle of water. Grabbing all three items, he let his bag drop back down to the floor, tucking it under his chair again with one foot.

"You really shouldn't do that."

He choked on his own saliva, looking up to see what was happening. In front of him was a young girl, long brown hair reaching down her back with bangs covering her eyes. "How'd you get in here?" he coughed the words out, trying not to drown in his own bodily fluids. "We're closed right now, I'm the night guard."

Waving him off, she walked over to the door, putting a hand on it. Now he could see her back, and her shirt looked like someone had taken a hole punch to it. "Doesn't matter." she whispered, leaning her head against the wall and knocking on the door. "Doesn't matter."

"...Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly, scooting closer to her. "Do you need me to call your mom?"

"I had a mom." she whispered, her voice taking on a hollow echo. "I know I did."

Mike drew back, then stood up from the chair and circled around her. "Little girl?" he crouched down slightly so that he could try to meet her eyes. When she did look at him, he instantly regretted it. Her eyes were inhuman looking, black where they should have been white and red where the color of them should have gone. "W-what's wrong with your eyes?"

"Nothing beyond what's wrong with me." she whispered, then vanished.

With a choked whimper, Mike backed away from where she had been standing. The spot where she had been was empty now, but the floor had a small streak of blood on it. Trying not to scream, he dropped back into the chair, nearly peeling out of his skin when he heard an insistent thumping noise on the left hand door, opposite of where the girl had been.

Cursing quietly, he checked the cameras, realizing that it was Foxy. The curtain of Pirate Cove had been opened, and he could see the cardboard cutouts and faded paint that made up the world of the Pirate captain. For a second, he remembered being younger, a plastic hook on his hand and a grin that was recovering from losing baby teeth. Mike shook his head, waving the memory away, focusing in on the office around him. 

With a determined speed, he ate his sandwich in five bites, ignoring how each one tasted almost like ash in his mouth.

 

**Night One, 5:45 AM:**

Unsurprisingly, the next shift hadn't shown up yet. 

Despite the fact that there was supposed to be a half hour overlap between each shift, he'd had a feeling that they wouldn't show up until the very last minute. Considering what the people he'd met several hours previous had all said about him and the restaurant, he was aware that they would come in after his shift had ended officially. In spite of this, Mike kept checking the time nervously, looking pointedly at the camera that pointed towards the main room. Freddy was still on stage, Foxy was once again behind his curtain, and Bonnie was hanging around the tables in the main dining area. 

Chica was in the kitchen, judging by the sounds he was hearing from that camera feed. The visual of it may have been gone, but he still had the audio feed to go off of.

The blood was still on the floor.

No matter how many times he blinked, it was still there, and he couldn't make it go away. When he touched it, however, it stayed on the floor. It didn't smear, and it wasn't getting on his hands, but it still wasn't going away. The blood was acting like a glitch in a video game, there when he looked but not actually physically there.

As he watched, Chica wandered back into the main room, passing by Bonnie as it headed for the main stage. With a bend of the knee joints, Chica climbed back up onto it, heading for the spot it stood in during the day. A couple of minutes passed before Bonnie did the same.

Mike stared at the screen, squinting suspiciously at it. 

With a shudder, both of the active animatronics went still, their shoulders, elbows and knees locking up as they went into performance mode. Bonnie now held a guitar, and Chica was holding what looked like a platter with a pizza on it.

"Well, damn." Mike frowned, rolling his shoulders. 

Down the hall, he heard the thumping noise again, but when he checked the camera, he saw nothing. He double checked each feed, but still could not find the source of the noise. "Guess it's just the vents." he tucked the packaging from his meager meal into his bag, directing his frown at the screen. 

With a glance at the clock reassuring him that time was indeed passing, he spent the last twelve minutes of his shift fiddling with his phone and keeping an eye on the cameras. Mike watched quietly as Orsani walked through the front door, smirking when the older man spared a nervous glance at the stage.

A different man followed in behind him, patchy hair combed over the obvious bald spot on his head. The two of them spoke for a moment, and then the unknown man walked into the door to the backstage area, door closing behind him. Watching the screens still, Mike tucked his phone into his bag, waiting for something else to happen. The balding man came back out of the room, a half confused smile on his face as he shrugged and gestured. Mike made a face, trying to hear what they were saying. They were either speaking so quietly that the camera couldn't pick them up, or the audio feeds of that room were down.

Considering that he couldn't hear much coming through the open doors, he would have to guess the former.  
On screen, the two of them headed out of the room, towards the office. When they got into hearing range, he stood, calmly pushed his chair back, then went to meet them. Orsani looked almost surprised, confusion evident in his eyes as he watched Mike walk towards them. "How'd your first night go?"

"If you had just told me upfront that the damn things move at night, I wouldn't have risked having a heart attack." Mike told him with no hesitation. "Also, for the love of god, get a different fan for that office. I get that it gets hot, I do, but that one uses a bar of energy at all times, which means that the generator loses power faster, which means the lights go out sooner. I don't want to know what happens when that happens." he cleared his throat, turning to the other man.

The balding man was trying to hold back a smile, the edges of his lips twitching upwards. "Well, son, I've been saying that same thing to him since he started working here and put that fan in." he held out a hand, but the tone of his voice was already familiar enough that Mike knew who he was. "Harvey Gersh. I'm head of security, and I've been here almost as long as the company has, excluding the first nine years."

Mike nodded. "You're the guy who called me." 

"I did do a message for you, yeah." Harvey shrugged. "You heading out now?" he looked nervous now, looking at the time. The clock read 6:09, and Mike nodded again before turning on his heel and walking out of the office, towards the main dining area. When he got there, he took a moment to stand at the edge of the stage, looking up at the three animatronics.

Freddy was holding a microphone, Chica was standing behind a keyboard, and Bonnie had his legs in a wide spread stance. If he looked carefully at the rabbit, he could see small tears in the fur here and there. Chica had a worn through spot in the feather patterned material covering her arms. Even Freddy had some wear on him, his nose almost threadbare and his hat patched with fabric that was just a shade too light for the surrounding black.

"...It's a shame, yeah?" Harvey's voice came from behind him. After the night he'd had, Mike didn't even flinch. "Only reason we're still open is because of the other branches of entertainment the company offers. There's a television show, and there's the toys that get sold in stores, and those are we we get the money to stay open from. We don't even have enough money to get these guys properly repaired, they just have to stay in here and sort of just-" he cut himself off with a cough, clearing his throat. "It's just a shame."

"You started here in the sixties, right?" Mike asked after a few seconds of silence.

Harvey looked over at him, still facing the stage. "Yeah. In sixty-six. I was hired with three others, and we were the actors for the mascots originally." He laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his head. "And then Jeremy did some things and he just...Went nuts, I guess."

"Who did you play?"

With a careful gesture at the stage, actually moving closer to the animatronics as he did, Harvey singled out Bonnie. "I was the rabbit. I still think that the only reason I got the job was because Mister Fazio took pity on me and decided to give me an almost silent role. I could play guitar, and when he found out about that, he had them change it from a singing character to a musician."

Mike tilted his head. "That sounds like anxiety."

"Been on medication for a while now." Harvey agreed, shrugging nonchalantly. "I figured that out not too late, and instead of havin' a break down, I got help and medicated and so yeah..." he took a deep breath in through his nose. "Well, you're on shift for the next night shift, and you should probably get some sleep before you need to be awake for things."

It was an obvious dismissal, and Mike took it for what it was.

The scrabbling noise in the wall above his head made him jerk backwards, tongue gluing itself to the roof of his mouth as he tried to swallow his heart back down. When the noise sounded like it was moving away from him, he breathed again, a deep gush of air through his nose.

With one last look over his shoulder at Pirate Cove, he went out the door. The feeling of terror that he'd felt settling on his shoulders all night lifted the moment he was outside, and he let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well, Fuck.
> 
> So here's chapter two, less than twenty-four hours after the first one. I will have a chapter for each night, and I will be writing more than that because the idea for the AU is going to continue for a very long time.


	3. And You Cannot Hide

**Night Two, 11:30 PM:**

Brianna was the only one in the building when Mike arrived for his second night of work.

She was examining her nails in a way that seemed to indicate that, not only was she bored, but it was his fault. When he stopped at the door and watched her swivel slowly from side to side in the office chair, she looked up at him, leaning back in it and smiling slowly. 

"When I said you wouldn't last the week," she informed him sourly, "It was a suggestion, not an insult."

Gesturing for him to come in closer, she waited until her was next to her before reaching over lightning quick and shutting the door. Before he could react in any way, she lunged for the other one as well, locking them both into the office. When Mike tried to open one of them again, she grabbed his wrists. "Look, new guy." she hissed, her voice low. "I get that Orsani seems like a good guy, but he's the only thing I have ever seen that creeps my mom out."

Mike struggled against her hold, trying to back away from her. With a snarl, Brianna maneuvered him into the chair, picking up her bag as she did so. "Why are you-"

"Because Orsani once tried to keep police from entering the building when a guy named Jeremy kidnapped a group of little kids." Brianna rolled her eyes, leaning against the desk. "I don't know why, I have never known why, and my mom never told me. She's the one who worked with him."

"...Wait, your mom worked here before you did?" Mike made a face. "Why are you working here when your mom did?"

"I swear to god, if you make a joke about my mom-" Brianna cut herself off, waving the questions away. With an angry roll of her shoulders, she shook her head. "My mom worked as Chica, back when they still had costumed actors. When they recorded the first voices for them, it was hers they used for Chica. Orsani got thrown in the back of the police car, and then got held onto for twenty-four hours while they questioned him in connection with the disappearances. When they couldn't solidly connect him to any of the kids, they let him go.

"I just wanted to warn you," she took a breath, glancing up at the clock. "That he rubs me entirely the wrong way. Call me crazy, call me psychotic, but I think that when your boss stares too long at the kids in the restaurant and makes creepy comments under his breath, that's when I get worried." she smiled brightly all of a sudden. "Now, I am getting the fuck out of here before the animatronics wake up."

"You're just going to leave me with the information that our boss is a major creep." Mike's jaw dropped, a disbelieving look on his face. "You're going to dump that one on me and then leave."

"It's eleven forty-five," she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Hell yes I am leaving your dumb ass here. You want to work here, you want to die. I have no strong urge to go with you in that blaze of glory."

With that, she quickly sauntered out, and he heard her heels clicking rapidly against the floor as she started running for the door.

"Well," Mike took a deep breath. "Fuck."

The clock flipped over to read eleven forty-seven, and if Mike listened carefully, he could have sworn that he could hear howling coming from the main hall. Before he could move, the lights flipped off and the generator kicked in. 

 

**Night Two, 12:00 AM:**

At twelve, on the dot, Mike heard the phone ring, the small click signifying that the line picked up.

"Uhh, Hello? Hello?" 

"Hey Harvey!" Mike replied, falsely cheery. "How's your night going? I've got crazy robots on my ass, you?"

"Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!"

"I did. Were you expecting me to have run screaming by now? Would have been the sane thing." he made a face at the machine.

"I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Uhh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know..."

"...More active?" he frowned. "Why- More? Really?" he picked up the tablet, flipping slowly through all of the camera feeds it was receiving. "Why more active, why is that a thing?"

"Uh... Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so, hey, I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power, right?"

"Wasn't planning on it anyways!" Mike shrugged at the phone. "Really hadn't even thought about it!"

"I-I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights. There are blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be right outside of your doors. So if-if you can’t find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react..."

Mike gave a nervous laugh. "Right, use the lights. You couldn't just tell me this when you were waxing poetic about the animatronics."

"Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that. Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know."

"Oh, you mean Foxy." he rolled his eyes. "Seriously, already got that from the thumping on the door and the creepy little girl."

"Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon."

"I really don't think that anyone could have this under control," Mike snarked back, pinching the bridge of his nose. The only response he got was the click of the line disconnecting, sounding oddly like a rope snapping.

Looking up, he spotted Chica pressed against the window, beak open in a macabre display of endoskeleton teeth and metal edges. Leaning over slowly, he pressed the button to close the door, watching the mechanical bird bring it's arms up and tap on the window. When he looked closely, he realized that he could see the eyes of the robot.  
They looked like the weird ones he had seen the ghost girl with.

Mike felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end, and he turned around in the chair, the wheels squeaking softly. He came face to face with the ghost girl, as if she had been summoned by his thoughts. "Hello." he spoke cautiously.

She tilted her head to the side, and he watched a necklace chain slide to the side as well, something moving underneath her shirt. "Hi."

Now that he wasn't entirely too freaked out, Mike could look at her. Her hair was, as he had first thought, long and a light brown color. In the dim office lights, he could see a faint sheen of yellow in it. Despite the fact that she was probably around five and a half feet tall, she looked like she wasn't any older than eleven or twelve. The shirt she wore was a light grey color, with dark blue edges on the sleeves. Despite the holes in places, it looked like something he had seen once in a souvenir shop he had been to with his mom.

"What's going on?" Mike spoke again, leaning back in his seat in case she started attacking him. 

With a slow blink, she moved over to the desk and sat on it, as if mimicking Brianna's positioning from earlier. "Someone's lying to you." she whispered, eyes fixed on a spot just behind his head. "They're telling you things and they aren't true and I can't-" she cut off, and then, like a record skipping, started again. "Someone's lying to you. They're telling you things and they aren't true and I can't-"

"Hey," he reached a hand out towards her, voice soft like she was a wild animal. "Calm down and talk?"

She met Mike's eyes and he really wished that she hadn't. It looked like something behind them had been removed, like a lobotomy but worse. Despite the human shape and the little girl looks, she looked like something masquerading about in a shell. "You're the security guard." 

"I am, yeah." Mike nodded, both hands held out placatingly. "I'm the new guy, and you're kind of freaking me out."

She gave a small grin, a missing tooth on the right side of her mouth forming a child's gap forever cut into her face. "I'm sorry." she drew her legs up to her chest, leaning back against the wall. "I wish I could tell you my name, and I wish it would do some good to have you tell me yours. I have no guarantee that I'd remember it." she looked out the window, making a face. "Chica's gone, you should open the door. You'll lose less power that way."

Mike clicked the button, breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out that she was right. "What do you mean about your name?"

"I don't remember it," she hesitated, then shrugged. "I remember that I had a mom, and I had a sister, and I had a dad who was only sometimes there. I don't have faces, I don't have voices..." she breathed shakily. "This being dead thing sucks a lot more than I thought it would. I feel alone, no matter how many are here with me." 

When she didn't explain any further than that, he scooted the chair closer, grinning as she giggled over the ridiculous squeaking noise, her shoulders coming back up and her legs relaxing into a crossed position. "So," he began awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand. "You're dead."

"It's a living." she shot back. 

He almost responded to that, eyes falling closed, then shaking his head. "Nope. Not gonna think about it. Not even going to try. It's not- By definition-"

"Sssshhhh," she whispered, a finger to her lips. "You and I both know that."

"Why are you here?" Mike gestured at her, waving a hand to indicate something he couldn't voice. "Is there something keeping you here, do you have unfinished business?"

"Of course not." she scoffed at him, rolling her eyes, the smile on her face dropping slightly. "I follow my body, not an agenda. It's somewhere in the building, and I don't think I want to tell you just yet." 

Mike frowned. "Why not?"

"It's a trigger for the losing time thing." She looked away from him, picking at a loose piece of the desk. "If I mention the wrong thing, I sometimes lose the lucid state and lose myself and then it's a couple of years later and I'm not seeing the same people come and go from the building every day."

The clock on the wall rolled over to read one in the morning, and she looked at it with sad eyes. "Sometimes I lose only a few minutes, but that's rare. Usually, it's at least a year, but I only lost six months this time!" He could feel the same excitement she probably was feeling, and he took a moment to reflect on how miserable it was that that was the happiest thing in her existence. 

"So, the time thing is a no go, the body thing is a no go, your name is a no go." Mike frowned, leaning back in the chair. "Anything I can talk to you about?"

"I miss being alive?" she shrugged, then looked away. "I have barely any memories about anything anymore. I know that I died here, and I know that I need to keep you alive." she took a deep breath, and he watched her hair float around her head like she was underwater.

Mike cracked his neck, rubbing at the space between his eyes. "How is it that you're even here?" he swallowed, then shook his head. "Or does that fall too close to the line of thinking that blanks you out for a while?"

"That might come too close to it." she shook her head. "I'm not too sure about it." her eyes dropped to the floor. "I think I'm going to leave you alone for a while..." she muttered, swiping a hand across her eyes. "I'm sorry I bothered you."

As suddenly as she had appeared, she vanished, leaving Mike with a vague sense that she should still be in the room.

 

**Night Two, 4:00 AM:**

Mike flipped through the cameras slowly, humming something.

Pursing his lips and clicking his tongue against his teeth, he sighed. "God damn it Freddy." The music he currently had stuck in his head was the music box version of 'La Toreador', and it was the song that the bear played for little kids sometimes. He'd heard Freddy in the dining area earlier, not moved from the stage but eyes lit up and the song playing. Mike had watched for a few minutes before flipping over to Pirate Cove, making sure that Foxy was where he was supposed to be. 

Somewhere, he could hear one of the only other beings that were in the building humming as well, and he shuddered when he recognized the voice. It was Foxy, and he could swear that the fox was peeking further out of his curtain than he had been a couple of minutes before.

If he looked carefully at the fox's eyes, he could see black and red instead of the gold ones that he remembered from when he was younger. Checking on the status of the battery of the generator, he frowned. It was currently at forty percent, with two hours to go, and he felt reasonably reassured that he would last the night. 

No matter how many times he tried to think of something else, anything else, his mind would inevitably turn back to the dead girl. Despite the strange way she kept appearing and reappearing, he couldn't help but think that she was some kind of joke cooked up by his coworkers. It would explain why the animatronics were constantly moving at night, they were being set up to roam around and freak him out so that he wouldn't run into the actress they had brought in to be the creepy little girl.

"Right," Mike shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. "Conspiracies about coworkers. Mind of a sane and stable man." he dismissed the idea, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I'll just-" he shrugged. "Ask them when they show up in the morning. Sounds good, yeah." he tried to reassure himself, barely even looking up as Bonnie appeared at the left side. 

He clicked the button to the door, closing his eyes as it slammed shut. 

When he opened them again, he jolted backwards, eyes wide as he took in the sight that was before him. It was a version of Freddy, but unlike the version that he had flipped past on the camera feed only a few minutes before, this one had golden fur. There was a few moments of stare down, the hollow eyes of the bear seeming to be watching him. With a shaky breath, Mike closed his eyes again, digging his fists into them. 

"It's just not-" he broke off, peeking into the room cautiously. The bear was gone. "Oh, fuck this."

He turned his attention back to the tablet, forgetting entirely about the door being down.

 

**Night Two, 5:55 AM:**

Mike looked at the clock, already congratulating himself on surviving the night, when the lights went out around him.

The door to his left slammed open, and Mike leapt backwards, the chair catching him up and sending him falling to the floor. In the darkness of the hallway beyond the room, he saw two lights flicker to life. A familiar strain of music floated into the room, and for a moment, Mike was returned to being a twelve year old. From the shape of the lights, he knew it was Freddy, and he felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. The music had once been something operatic and classical, but had been dumbed down to a music box sound for the sake of having the bear play it.

"Shit," he whispered, leaning back as far as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chica approach the other door, arms spread in what would have been a hug if it had been daylight and he had been a small child. "This is it, this is how I am going to die."

The music played on, and for the first time he could ever remember, he felt sick to his stomach at the thought of the animatronics. 

The clock on the wall read five fifty-seven, and he closed his eyes so tightly that he saw stars. The bear and the chicken came closer, and Mike could feel the lightly feathered fabric of Chica's leg against his arm.

Finally winding down, the music came to a complete stop, and the soft padding noises of animatronic feet against the floor came closer. Mike stopped breathing, feeling his chest seize up as the looming presence of Freddy came closer and closer.

It wasn't until a chime rang out through the air that Mike opened his eyes. 

Freddy and Chica were gone.

As the tinny recording of children cheering played, Mike let himself fall to the floor. The clock read six, and he covered his face with his hands, willing his arms to stop shaking.

That was where the next shift found him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was being difficult, so it gets to be shorter. Tell me what you think?


	4. Yeah You Gotta Face it Baby

**Night Three, 11:30 PM:**

Mike stood outside of the door for a few minutes, feeling the chill in the air as the night got late.

"Mike?" he turned to look at Michelle as she came out of the door, a toolbelt on her hips and her hair pulled back tightly. "Are you alright?" 

With a sigh, he shook his head. "I'm just wondering if it's worth it. Pay is crap, Orsani seems crazy, and then there's the animatronics..." he trailed off, frowned, then met her eyes. "Why do you work here?" he watched her fidget, the thick gloves on her hands being twisted as she bit her bottom lip. "What?"

"I actually enjoy working here." Michelle shrugged, smoothing one hand over her hair. "I like fixing the mechanics of the place. I've never been allowed to open the animatronics up and see what's inside, so I don't know why they move so weirdly, but I can fix everything else and make their movements less creepy to little kids."

"You actually like it here," he deadpanned, the expression on his face suggesting that she had a few screw loose. Waving his hands about, Mike shook his head, "You like fixing them."

"Yeah." she puffed up her cheeks, then nodded. "I do. I wish I could do more for them. I've been looking over some parts of them, and if I was allowed, I could totally transfer their data and consciousnesses into new bodies." Michelle rolled her eyes, then carefully took one of Mike's hands in hers. "You are coming in, right?"

Mike bit the inside of his cheek, letting out a slow breath. "Yeah, suppose I am." 

They walked inside together, the two of them passing close to Foxy's Cove, and Mike returned to what she had said. "What do you mean about new bodies?"

"Well," she glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes. "I have some schematics for more modernized versions of them, and I could totally make it work, but every time I bring it up, Orsani starts in on me about budget and not running the place into the ground." she shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, but their bodies are old and I'm worried that they're not going to work for much longer."

"What if-" Mike struggled with the words for a minute. "What if that's what the people in charge want? No animatronics, they can shut the business down and then they never have to deal with the bad press from everything that has happened here."

Michelle turned to look at him, then put a hand on his shoulder. They were outside of the office now, and she looked almost afraid. "As much as I don't want to think about it, that's probably what they have planned. As it is, we're already facing total shutdown, there's not nearly enough revenue from the few parties we have during the week." She looked back down the hall, a wistful expression on her face as she thought. "I guess kids are just too freaked out by the guys nowadays."

With those parting words, Michelle snagged her jacket off the edge of the desk and fled the room, her steel toed boots thumping against the floor.

Mike waited until he heard the door close behind her, then picked up the tablet and turned it on.

 

**Night Three, 12:00 AM:**

As he was quickly getting used to, the phone rang at exactly midnight, the second hand hitting the number just as the call came through.

''Hello, hello? Hey you're doing great!"

"I kind of am, thanks for noticing!" Mike cheered himself on, one hand raised in triumph. "Nearly died yesterday, Woo!"

"Most people don’t last this long. I mean, you know, they usually move on to other things by now. I'm not implying that they died. Th-th-that’s not what I meant."

Biting his lip and making a face, Mike rolled his eyes. "Do I even need to respond to that? Really?"

"Uh, anyway I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight."

Mike laughed, the sound on the edge of manic. "Right. Tonight is when they get real. Not yesterday, when Freddy's hand was three inches from my knee when the clock chimed the hour."

"Uh... Hey, listen, I had an idea: if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh, try playing dead! You know, go limp. Then there's a chance that, uh, maybe they’ll think that you're an empty costume instead. 

"Y'know, that doesn't seem like a good idea. If they're so intent on stuffing me in somewhere, then-" 

"Then again if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to... stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work. Yeah, never mind, scratch that. It's best just not to get caught."

A huff of air left Mike's lungs. "That's what I was thinking." he rubbed a hand down his face. "Seriously, I don't want to die, so I'll just stick to the lights and the doors."

"Um... Ok, I'll leave you to it. See you on the flip side."

"Why do you say shit like that?" Mike asked the machine as it went silent, clicking through the cameras. "Why is this place so creepy, why am I working here, why did I come back?"

He paused, thought about it for a moment, then sighed. "I come back because it's the only job I have and I need the money. Shit." he watched as Chica crept along the hallway towards the bathroom, going the opposite direction of him. "Good bird, you just go away and I'll go crazy in my office."

 

**Night Three, 2:00 AM:**

"You know, you really shouldn't close both doors at once," a voice came from right next to Mike's head. "It wastes a lot of the power, that's how a couple of the previous ones died."

With a hand over his heart, Mike tried to calm his breathing down. "And how else do you expect me to not be dead right now?" he asked, turning to look at the little girl that had appeared, once again, out of nowhere. "Bonnie and Chica are both right outside the doors!"

She rolled her eyes, then shrugged. Without saying anything else, she reached a hand out towards both doors, closing her weirdly colored eyes. "There, you can open them now."

A hesitant look on his face, he reached carefully for one of the door buttons. True to her word, it was safe to open now, Chica had disappeared back down the hallway. Repeating the motion at the other door, he blinked as he realized that Bonnie had done the same. Slumping back in his chair, Mike looked at her, eyes wide, jaw dropped slightly open. "How-"

"I just can." she muttered, pulling her legs up so that she was sitting crosslegged. Unfortunately for his sanity and ability to convince himself that this was all normal, she was floating in midair. "It has to do with the ghosts."

"Ghosts." he deadpanned in reply, feeling the weird floating sensation in his head evaporating in the face of this new development. "As in, restless spirits. As in every bad horror movie ever."

"You didn't get that before?" She made a face. "And, you don't have to put it like that." she was hunched over her own lap, each hand grabbing the opposite leg around the ankle. The result was something like a pretzel, except girl shaped and apparently dead. "Anyways, you need to listen to me. I'm not sure how much longer the lucid version of me will last this time. I come and go and then it's bad and I don't remember what's happening."

"Like the other night." 

Mike sighed when she gave him a strange look. "You were in here, and you leaned against the wall and said something about your eyes not being any more wrong than you. You disappeared and left a smear of blood on the floor."

"Oh, I died in here, this is where I haunt. Well, other than my suit." she shrugged, then sighed. "Anyways, I have to tell you, Mike."

"How do you know my nam-"

"Will you stop asking me questions?" her eyes went darker, her already wavy hair rising up around her head like she was floating underwater. "I know because I know and I need to make you know some of the things I know and that doesn't make sense but it does!" She let out an exasperated breath, more out of habit than anything. "The animatronics here are all being haunted. There's a backroom with the ones from the other-" she broke off, an unhappy expression taking over her face. "Can't remember the word. Places. Like this one. But not here."

"Other restaurants. Branches? Locations?"

"Yeah." she nodded, then continued. "There's the older ones too. In the backroom. Each one of the robot bodies that are here are haunted, but most of them are locked away. It's why Freddy and the other three are trying to kill you." she grinned as his jaw dropped again. "They're being controlled by some of his last victims."

"...Whose last victims?" he ventured cautiously. "I've heard a bit about a guy who was arrested, but I never heard anything about murders in connection with the pizzaria."

"He was a guard here." she whispered, a hint of the weird echo coming into her voice again. "He chased me down the hall and he found me here and he stabbed me and stabbed me and stabbed me and stabbed me and stabbe-" she broke off, shaking her head and jamming her palms against her temples. "No!" she hissed the word out, the feel of it like broken glass to the mood that the room had taken on with her repeating. "No." she said again, looking back up at Mike. "He was a guard here, and he killed a lot of kids and he wasn't good. Thing is, they all died with him in mind, I guess? All they can think of when I try to talk to them is their murderer. All they remember is the fact that the guy was in a security guard uniform."

"So why isn't that what you remember?" Mike leaned in closer to her. "Why aren't you trying to make me be dead?"

"Well, for one, I don't have a body right now to work with." she reminded him, passing one of her hands through the desk. "And two, I don't care about the butthead who killed me. I just want to make sure that you, as the only guard to ever not panic about my existence, don't die."

Mike thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, so you normally have a body?"

"I do." she grinned. "Do you want to see it? I'm not quite sure how to get to the one that used to be alive, but my robot-y one is easy to get to." she stood, and he watched as she stepped closer to the door, gesturing for him to follow. "Luckily for me, they just stripped pieces of it down so that they could have parts. A lot of the others ended up walled into the old stage area."

"What do you mean?" he hesitated for a moment before he grabbed the flashlight he had in his bag, following her slowly. "As far as I know, there's not an old stage area. I used to come here as a kid, and I think I would remember there being an old stage."

She rolled her eyes again. "Not if it was blocked off before you were old enough to be here. How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-two, why?"

"That explains it then." she laughed, flitting a few feet ahead. "It's still nineteen-ninety-seven, right? If it is, then it's been about fourteen years since it was hidden away. The thumping noises that sometimes happen during the day are because of the ones who are stuck in the backroom."

"I was old enough, but we moved here when I was nine. I would have been eight back then." With a shudder, Mike shook his head. "That's creepy." a minute passed as they made their way down the hall. As he realized where they were headed, Mike looked at her. "Are we heading to the main area?"

"Yeah."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Mike shook his head. "Oh, hell no." he backed up a little bit as she gave him a funny look. "You do remember that the murderous ghost-possessed animatronics are out there, right?"

"You do realize that, underneath the possession, they're sentient, right?" she countered, her little hands on her hips. "I pushed the ghosts that had Bonnie and Chica out of them, and if we run into Foxy or Freddy, I can do the same there as well."

Mike felt his eyes go wide enough to pop out of his head. "They're sentient?"

"Chica used to sing lullabyes to us," she whispered, bottom lip jutting out in a sad little pout. "She's good at singing, even if her voice box system thingy is getting all warped." With a defeated little shrug, she looked away, eyes fading from their usual darkness to a light blue glow. After a second, they returned to normal, and she turned back to him. "If we make a beeline for the backstage, Freddy's at the back of the stage and Foxy is curled against the wall of his cove. If you're quiet, I won't even have to displace the other ghosts that are in their heads."

Thinking quickly, biting his bottom lip, Mike nodded. "Alright. We can go."

She smiled at him. "And now that things have been said, I can tell you how I know your name. I've been here for a while. As in, I've been here since you started visiting. Your mom first brought you here for a birthday party, I think. You'd been invited and then you made new friends and it was good for a while." she floated along next to him. "We've been watching you for a long time." 

"What does that mean?" He watched as her outline grew fuzzy for a moment, silently hoping that she wouldn't fade away and leave him unprotected this far from the office. When she held a finger to her lips, he fell silent, automatically looking around the room for the animatronics. 

Across the large room was the archway that lead to the bathrooms, a sign on the inner wall directing the viewer one way or the other based on their gender. Peeking out of the hall was Chica, her head turning to watch him as he tip toed towards the backstage area. True to the ghost's word, however, the robotic chicken did not approach them. Her face was, instead, contorted into what seemed to be a mixture of regret and worry.

"Shhh," he heard the little girl ghost whisper, making him stop in his tracks. "Look behind you, carefully and slowly." Struggling against the urge to take a deep gasping breath, Mike looked slowly over his shoulder. 

Behind him, a hand outstretched, is Bonnie. 

The gigantic rabbit turned their head slowly to one side, then the other. With an exaggerated carefulness, Bonnie reached forward again, slowly lifting the security guard off of his feet and walking towards the door marked 'Employees Only'. Mike stiffened the moment he was being held in the furry arms, almost not breathing as the rabbit held him. The ghost floated alongside them, her eyes darting towards the stage, ready to sound the alarm if she caught sight of the bear that was the namesake of the restaurant, or the pirate captain.

A shuffling noise signaled the approach of Chica, who put a careful hand on Mike's knee. Both of the animatronics formed a moving wall, hiding Mike from the view of either stage. The ghost dove through the wall ahead of them, already sitting on the service table when they got through the door.

Bonnie set Mike on the table next to her, then dragged a couple of chairs over, offering one of them to Chica. "F-f-first time in y-y-y-years that we've not had t-t-t-t-t-t-them in our heads." the bunny managed to speak, their voice box crackling, the pitch occasionally jumping up and down. "E-e-e-explain why?"

The ghost smiled at the bunny, leaning forward to pet lovingly at one of their ears. "I needed you two not to kill Mike. We need his help. I admit that it might be a little selfish of me, but I needed to show him the animatronic I ride around in...Well, used to. Would you two mind pulling her out of the pile?"

'The pile', Mike saw when he turned to look around the room, was a literal pile of parts and recognizable limbs of animatronics. Sitting on the shelf behind the table they were on was what looked to be older versions of the main three's heads. Despite the stylistic changes, Mike could still see that they were the same beings, Bonnie's face not changing nearly as much as Chica's had over the years.

"Y-y-y-you need his help?" Chica asked, the dark yellow colored eyelids built into her face shuttering up and down quickly. "Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-" Bonnie tapped hard on the back of her neck, nodding when she stopped stuttering. "-ou need our help?"

With the smile on her face turning sad as she directed it at Chica, the ghost nodded. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to not be stuck here when the plans go through to close the restaurant." she made a sniffling sound, wiping non-existent tears from her face. "You guys have helped me and the rest a lot, and I'd like it to be paid back and so yeah..."

Bonnie stood up from the chair, crossing the room and digging gently through the pile, a noise that could have been a grunt coming from their throat as they leaned down and started tugging at something. Chica followed after, helping to clear things away as Bonnie kept pulling. "You s-s-should ask F-f-foxy and F-f-f-f-freddy for help too!" Chica informed her cheerily. "I'm s-s-sure that they would l-love to help!" With a couple more tugs, Bonnie skidded backwards slightly, their arms around something pulled from the bottom of the pile.

At first, all that Mike could see was an expanse of different shades of tan fur, and a ripped apart arm. As the two animatronics dragged it further into the minimal lighting of the room, Mike took in more details. It looked like an otter, but he couldn't be sure.

"It's D-d-dota," Bonnie informed him, understanding the questioning look on his face. "She used to be part of the band. S-s-she played the d-drums."

"There used to be a bigger band?" Mike asked, feeling a bit more at ease as he realized they wouldn't kill him for merely existing in the same space as them. "How much bigger was it? How many animatronics did they have to get rid of? I knew there was some that were retired, but what you're implying is on a much bigger scale than what I was thinking."

"T-t-there used to be an eighteen member band," Bonnie managed to speak without much stuttering this time as they sat the otter down in their chair. Reaching around to the back of the otter's neck, Bonnie leaned over her, tilting her head down until they could see underneath the rim of her head, making an annoyed sound as they realized something. "I ca-can't reach the switch here. Fi-fi-fingers are too b-b-big."

Mike hopped off the table, approaching cautiously. "Show me where it is, I'll do it?"

With a nod, Bonnie stepped to the side, still pulling Dota forward in the chair so that Mike could see where he needed to put his fingers. "T-there. The little switch, j-j-just under the edge."

"Alright." Mike coaxed the switch into the right position, taking a hurried step back as Dota shuddered and sat upright. "Did I do that right? I think I did."

"Y-you did," Chica chirped at him, stepping closer and taking his spot. "D-dota?" 

The otter's eyes opened, her right arm twitching. The right arm was barely there anymore, cut off at what would have been her elbow. Her legs were a mess, the right one detached raggedly at mid-thigh, her left foot missing. The only limb she had that was still in one piece was her left arm. One thing he noticed, however, was the shape of her. 

"She's shaped like Bonnie." Mike spoke softly, turning to look at the ghost where she sat quietly. She nodded at him, a smile on her face as she watched. 

"They broke her down to use her parts when his started breaking down." she explained, "She's been retired since nineteen-eighty-one." At his look, she shrugged. "That's the year I was killed." she whispered. "That's the year I was murdered in the room you call your office."

Dota's head shot up. "-G-g-g-girl!" she shrieked, eyelids moving rapidly as she tried to lean around the other two to see the ghost girl. "Girl!" she repeated, having caught sight of her. "Girl needs to be safe! Girl isn't safe!" 

Chica shook her head. "Girl is as s-s-safe as s-s-s-she can be. You'v-ve been offline f-for a lo-long time." the chicken gestured at the ghost. "S-she's-s stuck here with u-us."

"That doesn't ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-" Dota broke off, the gears holding her together seizing up for a moment. "-explore the cove again soon, little friends! Rem-member that Cap'n Fox-x-xy and I both love-love-lov-love y-y-y-" she twitched again. "-you aren't safe or you ar-are. It d-d-doesn't make sense."

The ghost girl floated off of the table and towards the giant otter. "You did the best you could, I know that. I need you to know that. I need everyone to know that." she dropped down to the floor, her feet sinking in slightly. "But in the end, there was nothing you could do, and I was too little to change anything. He managed to corner me in the office, he shut you out, and he caught me."

Mike looked horrified. "That's why there's a smear of blood on the floor when you're doing you echo loop thing. You put your head against the wall, hit your hand against the door, and then disappeared. You left behind a blood puddle that lasted for the last couple of hours of my shift."

An injured noise in the back of her throat, Dota tried to reach her right hand out towards the ghost girl. When her hand didn't extend to pat at the girl's hair, Dota paused before reaching out with the other one and frowning as much as she could. "I-i-i tried." Dota whispered. 

"You did." the ghost girl nodded, patting a non-corporeal hand against the side of the otter's nose. "And I am really happy that you did."

Dota leaned up slightly, pressing closer to the girl. "W-why am I-i back? Is h-h-he back?"  
The ghost girl shook her head, then frowned. "Not as far as I know, but I wanted you to meet Mike. He's the new guard, and he needs protection from the other kids." She looked at him, waving him over. Mike approached slowly, coming to rest beside the two of them. 

Bonnie watched over them, sparing a glance at the door to make sure that Freddy and Foxy weren't entering. A clattering noise drew them over to the door, peeking out of it quietly as Dota looked at Mike. Even while sitting down, her head still reached the level of his, and each one of her eyes was the size of his fist. 

She was an older styled animatronic, much like the older faces of Freddy and the others that were sitting on the shelf behind them. 

Chica shuddered, a glitching sound emitting from her throat. "Y-y-you need to go-g-go back now." she whispered, turning towards the door. the ghost girl went stiff, looking up and around, her dark eyes narrowing angrily. "They're coming."

"Yeah," the girl whispered, tugging softly on the edge of Mike's shirt. "Freddy's coming."

A high pitched screeching sound echoed down the hallway towards them, getting louder wih each passing second, the rapid thud-thud-thud of footsteps making every last one of them tense up. "That's not Freddy." Mike whispered, eyes going wide as he stared at the door, Bonnie rushing back in and slamming it closed behind them. Just as they leaned their entire weight against it, something rammed into it hard enough to jolt the rabbit.

"N-no!" Dota hissed, falling out of the chair and dragging herself across the room to lean again the door as well. "N-n-n-n-not going to h-happen! No m-m-m-m-more deaths!"

The little ghost girl floated over to the otter, whispering something to her. A second passed before Dota nodded, and the girl disappeared, the otter's eyes changing to reflect the eyes that the ghost had. "We'll be okay," Dota's voice had changed as well, flowing more smoothly from the voice box system than it had before, the tone of it softened around the edges into a slight childlike lisp. "I promise you, Mike, you're going to get out of here alive."

"...Did the two of them just combine?" Mike looked at Chica, who had gone to stand in front of him. "Did the ghost just possess Dota?"

Chica pushed him back towards the wall, her beak opening and closing for a minute before she spoke. "She a-a-asked for pe-per-permission first." the chicken changed her pose, legs braced firmly against the ground, Mike at her back and arms spread wide. The noises from the other side of the door were still occuring, along with the worrying creak of wood.  
All at once, with Dota and Bonnie still pressed against the door with all of their strength, the noises stopped. 

"Yarr-r!" came an almost forgotten voice from the other side, just as glitchy as the rest of them. "Y-ye be w-w-w-walkin' th-the p-p-p-p-plank if y-y-ye n-not be l-lettin' th-this Ca-Cap'n in!" 

The slightly horrifying announcement was followed by a maniacal giggle, high pitched and terrifying. 

Dota went still, the ghost girl reappearing by her side. "He's got the ghost of the kid that was shoved inside of him," she explained, staying close to Dota. "They're the ones trying to kill you right now, Mike. I need you to remember that." she looked up at the door, then over to the one human in the room. "It's not his fault, and it never has been."

"You were there for that." Mike spoke quietly, leaning around Chica. "You saw that happen."

She smiled at him, dragging a hand back through her hair. "I made sure that you didn't die." she whispered, shrugging it off when everyone looked at her. "You tried to leave your body, and I couldn't let that happen to someone else in this building, not when the murderer hadn't even touched you. You happened to be the near victim the day after the guy was arrested, and I made you stay in your body." without saying anything else, she slipped out the door, away from the worried otter that was trying to keep her there.

The entire room of them heard the noises that followed, managing to mostly block them out as the ghost dealt with the possessed animatronic fox.

"Y-y-you were here for something tha-that nearly k-killed you." Bonnie turned to look at Mike. "What was it?"

With the three of them staring at him, Mike sighed, then pulled off the hat that was part of his uniform. "When I was twelve, I was here for a birthday. A friend of mine had decided to have it here, and my mom dropped me off, then left to do...Something else." he cleared his throat. "Foxy has always been my favorite. No offense to you guys, but Foxy is my absolute favorite. I've always loved pirates, and it's not a hard leap to understanding that the one who is a pirate is my favorite."  
Chica turned around so that she could face him. "A-a-and?"

"I went to talk to Foxy, and something happened." Mike tangled one hand in his hair, lifting his bangs up to reveal part of his forehead. Instead of a normal hairline, there was a haphazardly circular scar on it, pale against the darker skin surrounding it, leaving a good chunk where hair wasn't growing too well. "I think it was the gears in his legs? He fell on top of me. I think he was in the middle of apologizing when they seized up again and his jaw snapped shut." he shook his head. 

Bonnie's face changed, the eyes going wide and the jaw hanging slack, Chica's face doing almost the same thing.

"There's a couple of messages on the phone in the office," Mike continued. "The one I got on my first night mentions the 'Bite of eighty-seven', and I think that's referring to me. I never lost my frontal lobe, though, and it didn't do too much damage. A chunk of my skull had to be replaced, but other than that, it bled a lot. Head wounds do that."

"You nearly bled to death." the ghost girl spoke up as she popped back through the wall. "It's safe to let Foxy in now, by the way. I fixed it."

With a glance at the rest of the room, Bonnie stepped back, dragging Dota with them until they were both out of the way of the door. The girl opened it, smiling when Foxy stepped a little closer, his entire posture speaking of hesitance and worry. "Ar-are ye lot al-alright?" he asked quietly, his voice dropping back into the one that Mike remembered from when he was younger. "Did I h-h-h-hurt ye?"

"Y-y-you're fine," Chica assured the fox, pulling him further into the room.

Foxy looked up then, his eyepatch lifted up to expose his right eye. He looked at Dota, then leaned down and picked her up, dragging her back to the chair she had been in before and carefully setting her in it. With a rumbling sound in her chest, Dota reached for his arm before he could pull away, yanking him into a hug before he could leave her side. "I-i-i Mi-missed y-y-y-you, Cap'n." she smiled at him, then let him go. "I missed m-my f-f-f-friends."

Watching the two of them interact, Mike tilted his head to the side. "Why do you call him Cap'n?"

"The Cove used to be much bigger." the girl spoke again, coming to a halt next to Dota's head. "It had lots of pirates and characters and it was so much fun. There used to be treasure hunts that would take kids all over the building, and Dota was the Captain's first mate. It was..." she paused, turned to the two animatronics, then shook her head. "I don't remember anymore." she whispered.

"Frog, E-e-eagle, Fl-flamingo," Foxy paused, then nodded. "W-w-w-wolf, Hound, P-pup." He waved his hook at Dota. "O-o-o-otter, Fox."

"Oh! Felix, Edward, Frieda, Isaac, Bernard and his son Harris, and then Dota and Foxy!" the ghost exclaimed suddenly, a bright smile on her face. "...Is Freddy still out there?" she frowned, leaning towards the wall. "The ghost that was in Foxy's head is screaming at me."

"Why can I see you but not them?" Mike asked, the realization striking him at her statement. 

She turned to him, floating gently down to land on the floor. "They're echoes. They're not actually really there, but they think that they need to be, so they are. It's the same kind of thing as why I can focus on keeping you alive and not trying to kill you. That's all they are anymore, they're not even close to being who they were when they were alive." she paused, an ugly silence falling over the room. "I make it a point to visit my body, and they never do. I think that that's the reason that I'm still of sound mind."

The soft sound of the music box that was in Freddy's chest drifted into the room with them, making the hair on Mike's arms stand up, his eyes going wide. 

"Oh no," she looked at the door, eyes going wide. Her outlines were hazy now, and her head was tilted like her neck had been broken. "Mike, run. Run. Run. Run. Lying to you-" she broke off, sobbing and clutching at her head, "Lying to you lying to you lying to you lying to you lying to you lying to you lying to-" she dropped to the ground, a piercing scream echoing around the room.

Mike covered his ears, backing away from her and wincing. "What's happening?" he asked of the room at large, shuddering every time her screams started again. "What the hell is happening?"

He felt arms wrap around him, and the screams grew louder, making his vision black out for a moment. 

By the time he got it back again, he was in the office, with one of the doors closed. Foxy stood outside the other one, his head twitching spasmodically in a loop that was probably caused by a jam in the gears of his neck. The screams were quieter now, and he was sitting on the floor. 

The fox pirate's eyes went black, a scorching red color filling the middle. Mike lunged for the door button just as the hook came forward, angling for his stomach, as if to rip it out. 

With a horrifyingly loud thud, the door came slamming down against the ground, the screeching sound that he had heard earlier reverberating through the metal. Not knowing if Foxy could rip through, Mike stepped backwards until he was pressed flat against the other door. A vibrating smack on the outside of it had him reeling, ducking for cover under the desk. The clock on the wall read five thirty, and the power monitor read seventy percent.

Bringing his knees to his chest, Mike tucked the tablet in next to him and closed his eyes, wishing that this was simply a nightmare and that he would wake up in his own bed.

"Oh, fuck this." he whispered, covering his ears when the noises rose in volume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written most of the first five chapters, so this will update pretty frequently right now.


	5. Things Go Bump In The Night

**Night Four, 11:52 PM:**

Mike crept quietly towards the office, heart nearly pounding out of his chest as he listened intently for any sign that the animatronics were on the move.

When he got there, he set his bag down and snagged the tablet off of the table, already flipping through the camera feeds to locate every last one of them. After the ghost girl had disappeared and Foxy had returned to being possessed, he'd nearly refused to return to work for the company. It was only a phone call from Artem that had dragged him back to the building, the other being completely unaware as to how they were supposed to keep from dying.

A knot of guilt had formed in his chest as he'd listened quietly. With Artem's voice falling silent on the other end of the line, he'd sighed and told them, "Yeah, I'll be there in five minutes." before hanging up and dragging his uniform on.

So now he stood, scared out of his mind, in the office that he'd managed to survive in for the last three night shifts he'd worked. A glance at the clock confirmed that three minutes had passed in his arduously slow journey from the front door to the back room. Despite the fact that they never started moving early, he still felt afraid of the possibility that they would manage it tonight and come kill him.

The phone rang, and he nearly jumped out of his skin, turning to look at it. When it clicked, he frowned. "Harvey, why is your call early tonight?"

"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four. I knew you could do it. Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow."

The sudden banging noise made Mike squeak in fear, fingers clenching so tightly his knuckles went white. When he glanced up at the door, however, he realized that it was Harvey's message that had the sound in it.

"It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you" He cleared his throat, the fear in his voice blatant. "Uh, when I did. Uh, hey, do me a favor."

The banging noises started again, and Mike frowned. "Harvey, no, what's-" 

"Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?"

With another banging noise, Mike was sure that Harvey was under attack by Foxy. "Harvey, why the hell didn't you call someone in to help you when this was happening?" 

"I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won’t be so bad."

"It's always going to be bad!" Mike hissed at the machine, eyes wide as he stared at it, voice almost drowned out by the resounding thuds that were hitting against the door to the office that Harvey had once worked in. "You stubborn jackass, you didn't call anyone in to help you, did you?"

"Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there."

Freddy's music box started playing, and Mike ignored the urge to check the doors, frozen in horror as he listened to what was probably the last few minutes of Harvey's life. 

"You know..."

A moaning noise came from the machine.

"Oh, no -"

Harvey's voice cut out and what followed was an animatronic screech, much like the one that Foxy had made the night before, and then the line went dead, static growing louder as he stared at the machine.

On the wall, the clock struck twelve, and Mike heard the soft thudding noise that meant one of the animatronics was coming closer. Reaching slowly for the button, he turned to look at the door they were coming to, glaring out into the darkness. "Oh, just come on already." he growled, looking for the machine-monster that was coming to get him.

Out of the darkness, he spotted the reflection of the lights of the office, at about the height of the animatronic's eyes. Since it was in the left hallway, it was either Bonnie or Foxy. Mike swallowed heavily, grabbing for the heavy flashlight that was on the desk, prepared to use it to fight his way past whichever one it was.

"Hello again," he heard the soft voice of the little girl, and he barely turned to look at her, still bristling against the approach. "He's not going to hurt you."

Mike looked back out into the hallway, and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that it was Foxy, and the pirate's eyes were returned to how they should look. "What about-"

"That wasn't them." she shook her head, the motioned for Foxy to come into the room. He did, ducking down under the edge of the doorway. "It wasn't them, and you need to listen to me because it was someone else."

"If it wasn't the animatronics," he asked her, meeting her eyes and trying to keep them focused on him. "Who was it?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but it wasn't them. I came back into lucidity just as the guy was dying. He got shoved into one of the extra Freddy suits." she swallowed a sob, eyes wide and scared. "They were all still on stage and he was in the suit and it was time for them to not be in free roaming mode. It wasn't them!" she shivered, then covered her face. "He was still twitching when I got to him, and I couldn't get him out."

"He mentioned that it would kill someone if they got shoved in..." Mike looked back at Foxy again, moving to the side so that the captain could be actually in the room, not halfway in the hall. "I don't think he ever counted on being the one stuffed into it."

"Foxy needs help." she told him, and that was when he noticed the broken joint at the shoulder. "If I bring you the tool box that the mechanic lady leaves here, would you be able to do anything about it?"

Mike looked at it for a second, then nodded slowly. "I think I could do something. I know a little about putting stuff back together, but I promise nothing." he paused, then looked back at her. "What even happened?"

"He was attacked after he got you back in here last night," she looked like she was going to cry. He had a feeling that she would have if she could. "Despite the fact that the ghost who rides around in his head was back, the others attacked him because they came really close to killing you and he got you to safety. It wasn't about the ghost inside, it was the being whose body it is."

"If you get me the tools, I'll try to fix him a bit." Mike shrugged, hefting the flashlight back onto the desk. "I'll do what I can."

 

**Night Four, 2:33 AM:**

The ghost girl watched as Mike quietly examined the broken piece that somehow was still keeping Foxy's arm attached to his body. 

"I-it d-d-d-d-don't matter t-t-that much, lad." the pirate tried to reassure him, sitting still anyways. Mike had him sitting on the table in the backstage area, putting what little knowledge he had of machinery to use. "Th-this old p-p-p-p-pirate cap'n's b-b-b-b-been outta s-s-service fer s-s-so long t-that it d-d-doesn't matter."

"It does matter," Mike muttered, pulling the small wrench out of his mouth, adjusting something carefully. "If I could, I'd have Michelle take a look at you as well, because I know I don't know enough to fix this completely." at Foxy's blank silence, Mike shrugged. "Michelle's the mechanic. I talked to her briefly...Let's see, I think it was my third night working here? It gets hard to tell when the work shifts aren't all in a row."

Giggling, the ghost girl floated closer to them, picking up the toolbox and hauling it onto the table next to Foxy. "You're going to wreck your back if you keep leaning down like that." she informed him, a happy smile on her face.

"You seem really chirpy and pleased today," Mike remarked, reaching to the side to pull something from the box. "What's up?"

"Well," she began, fiddling with her fingers. "It's been six months since the last time I was aware of time and the passing of, and that's the shortest the interruption has ever been." she gestured at Foxy. "You're getting along with these guys, and the ghosts aren't inside their heads right now, so they aren't trying to kill you. Even Freddy isn't being possessed right now, which was one of the hardest to get rid of because he's angry over the treatment of the restaurant and the kids who were supposed to be protected here." she sat next to Foxy, legs swinging.

"Wait, so you've got them not possessed right now?" One thing that Mike noticed was that she was starting to look like a normal kid. Despite the black eyes and the mixed speech patterns that wavered between child and adult, she was starting to seem like nothing more than the little girl that she was. "Are we going to do the same thing today that we did last time?"

She looked at him, and for a moment he thought he remembered seeing her before, hands covered in the blood from his head. The image drifted away, and he set the wrench down in the tool box, reaching for the screw driver to tighten the screw he was currently faced with. "I really hope not." she spoke quietly. Her face was oddly calm, at odds with the age she seemed to be. 

"How old were you?" he asked her, setting all of the tools down and testing the connection of the pieces that made up Foxy's arm. Despite the obvious damage still distorting the metal, it was secure enough that it wouldn't fall off. "And I think that I've done the best I can do."

Looking down at herself, she frowned. "I think I was ten."

"You are five foot five." Mike turned to her, doubt written across his face. "And you're telling me that you were ten?"

"My dad was really tall!" she squeaked the words out, eyes wide and hands flailing. "I took after him!" she stopped, chubby face going soft as she thought about it for a moment. "I think I did, anyways."

Foxy reached out for her using his non-damaged arm, a sort of purring noise clicking out of his chest. "It's a-a-a-a-alright l-lass." he whispered, flicking his eyepatch up before trying again. With both of his eyes in use, he managed to actually wrap an arm around her, the embrace only lasting a few moments before she pulled away.

"So, just because I'm curious," Mike started as he pulled a small cloth out of the tool box to wipe his fingers off with. The cloth came away with a thick coating of what looked to be oil mixed with dry blood. "What was your favorite part about this place when you were alive?"

"I like Pirate Cove." Her voice sounded sort of hollow, like a breath of wind through a tight space. "Always have. He put my body where I could see the stage."

Mike stared at her, the cloth dropping to the floor as it slipped from his fingers. His mind was racing, thoughts appearing and being discarded as he realized something. "Your body is in the wall, isn't it? You keep making references to the walled off room, and that's the only thing that's changed from the original blueprints. If he'd put you in the floor, you'd have been found already because he wouldn't have been able to repair that right without being found out."

Her eyes went brighter, a smile playing across her lips. "Yes."

"That's awful, but-" the words dropped from his lips, his face contorting in disgust. "There's a vent in the wall, which means there's air flow to your body, which means that you decomposed. How the hell wouldn't someone have noticed that?"

"What is this place famous for?" she asked him quietly, leaning forward until she was nearly bent in half. "Besides being creepy."

With a frown, Mike thought about it. "The pizza. The annoying music and the smell of food in the air. It would have- The smell covered the smell of your body rotting in the wall." His face fell even further into horror, his throat clenching up. "Except at night. The ovens get turned off, and then the smell would have been there, lingering under the entire days worth of scent."

She met his gaze, tossed her hair back over her shoulder, rubbed almost anxiously at her neck for a moment. When she finally spoke again, it was in awe of something, the tone of her voice only barely steady. "This is the first time that talking about it hasn't sent me directly back into being unaware of things." she looked at Foxy's arm, then held his hand and tugged lightly on it. When it didn't pop off, she nodded in satisfaction. "I think it's because you're the one talking about it, with me just confirming details."

Mike nodded, tucking the toolbox back together and sliding it under the table again. He had a feeling that if they didn't leave it as they found it, Michelle would have a fit. "Do you think you can tell me how to get it out of there without me dying at the hands of possessed animatronics? Your trick is cool and all, but you have to admit that there's always the possibility of it failing because the ghosts gang up on you."

"...You want to get my body out of the wall?" she spoke with faint hope, her eyes wide and her lips curled up at the edges. 

He nodded, stretching out his back. "What would it do to you?" he looked at Foxy, then stepped back to allow the animatronic to get to the door first. "Would it help, or would it be bad?"

"It would help." she floated off of the table, hovering around his shoulder. "I'd stop being a haunting and I would be able to leave." With a frown, she floated around in front of him, meeting his eyes and grinning. "If we got the rest of them out, no one would ever be attacked again! They'd be able to rest, and they wouldn't attack the guards anymore, and you would be safe and no one would die because of them anymore."

Only barely aware of Foxy patting him on the shoulder and leaving them, Mike grinned back. "Safety sounds good. It'd also get everyone funerals, for the ones who still had family to bury them."

"All I want is peace." she told him, eyes focused on something behind where Freddy stood on the stage. If Mike looked closely, he could see a splatter of something on the wall. 

If he looked even closer at the entire wall, he could see several marks like that. A sick feeling exploded in the pit of his stomach as he looked at it. "Are the marks on the walls individual bodies?" he asked quietly, as if speaking any louder would make things break.

"They are." she floated over to the wall, running her fingers over it. "The first victims that weren't the murderer's little sister are in here, along with me. I talked to them when I first was stuck here. Back then, they still had a little bit of their minds left, and they could still sort of recall being human." she took a deep breath, laying her small hand flat over the biggest stain on the wall, the one that could easily have fit two or three children within the diameter of it. "They were already several days dead when they were shoved into the wall. And since they died here..." she trailed off, looking at him sadly.

"Their ghosts were here, even when their bodies were not." Mike finished the sentence for her. When he finally looked away from her, towards the stage, he realized that they were surrounded by what looked like fog. "They've been stuck here for ages, and-" he broke off, realizing that the 'fog' was getting closer. "You know how I asked why I could see you but not them?"

"Yeah."

"I think I see them now." Mike edged closer to her, watched the fog coalesce into child sized shapes, at least thirteen of them. He and the ghost girl were surrounded, pinned against the wall. 

She looked at them, her eyes wide, and swallowed heavily.

Mike felt the wall hit his back, and he closed his eyes. "I thought I was going to die when they repossessed Foxy and the others. This is much worse. This is so much worse."

The entire group of ghost children opened their mouths, looking less human and more like a hole in the world as they did so. As one, they hissed out sounds, almost incapable of words, and reached for Mike's shirt, sharp little fingers catching on the buttons and yanking some of them off. Across the room, Foxy came flying out of the Cove, hitting the ground with a resounding bang, leaping to his feet the moment after he hit and running around the room. 

The thing that was chasing him was a black shadow, bright eyes and outstretched arms.

A scratching noise above his head made Mike look up, only to see what looked like blood dripping from the letters that were being carved into the wall. When that was finished, he felt a small hand against his throat. 

The ghosts had written 'Murderer' in letters that were almost a foot tall. He didn't know where the blood had come from, and he had a suspicion that he didn't want to know. 

Next to him, the ghost girl was covering her ears, eyes clenched shut against the fury of her fellow ghosts. "Please!" she howled at them, "It's not him!" Slowly, the hands of the others on her, the damage that must have occurred when she was alive started appearing. The hem of her shirt was ripped and bloodied, a handprint on her shoulder. When they managed to yank her away from the wall, he spotted the holes in the back of her shirt again.

This time, they were bloody as well, and now he could make the connection to the knife the killer had to have used.

There was also a bloody spot on the back of her head, with a large chunk of hair yanked out to leave a bald patch behind. She screamed, and his attention refocused, grabbing for her hand to try and pull her away from the rest of them. 

"You all need to let her go," he hissed, feeling ridiculously like he was playing tug o' war.

Foxy's screeching sound echoed around the room, and it was followed by the animatronic barreling into the middle of the group and scooping Mike and the ghost girl up and away, continuously moving to evade the one still chasing him.

She clung to the fox's shoulder, legs curled up and around his arm as they moved. "Mike? Are you alright?" she had to raise her voice to be heard over the screaming of the ghosts that were stampeding after them. 

"I'm good, I think." he shot back, hands fisted in the fake fur that still covered the fox's shoulders. "Why does the one trying to get inside the Captain's head look different?"

"It's a newer ghost, the memory of dying and being human before hasn't faded yet!" she patted the side of Foxy's face. "Take a run through the office, they'll follow you and then you can get back out here without them to worry about. Once they're in there, they tend to go completely mindless and just start milling about like they have no idea what's happening!"

Foxy didn't speak in response to that, but he did follow her advice, diving through the door and out the other in two steps, careful to duck down so that neither of his passengers would get hit on the door frame.

True to her word, they were almost alone by the time they got back to the main hall. The ghost girl looked up at the one chasing after Foxy and glared at it, doing whatever trick it was that led to it leaving them be. Foxy lowered her to the ground carefully, waiting until she was steady on her feet before doing the same for Mike. When the man's feet hit the ground, Foxy hovered at his shoulder, hook raised as if he could defend him from the rest of the ghosts.

"That," Mike leaned over, his hands braced on his knees and his heart pounding. "Was the scariest fucking thing."

She looked at him, dropping to her knees on the ground. "Yeah." she whispered breathlessly.

 

**Night Four, 4:38 AM:**

With Foxy at his back and the little girl next to him, Mike peered around the corner of the office door.

The only thing out of place was the sight of Bonnie on the other side, the rabbit's eyes flicking around the room as if trying to locate the ghosts. When the four of them weren't attacked, Mike slipped into the room and picked up the tablet, dropping cautiously into the seat. "I don't think they're here anymore." he whispered, as if by keeping his voice low he could ward them off forever. 

Foxy put his hand on the girl's shoulder, nudged her into the room. "G-g-g-good."

She looked at the fox, then went entirely still. "There's a new ghost." she looked around the room as she spoke, eyes wide and hands clenching slowly into fists. With a look at the door again, she turned towards the phone. The two others in the room turned to look at it as well, and Mike tightened his hands until they were clenched in the fabric of his shirt. 

When the phone rang, all three of them jumped backwards, Foxy hitting against the wall while Mike dropped to the ground. 

The trill of it sounded once, twice, three times, and then fell silent. A soft click followed, and Mike looked up as static played over the speakers, a rustling noise almost indistinguishable from the static in the background. 

"Uh-uhm, hello?" 

Mike's eyes went painfully wide as he recognized the voice, his jaw dropping. "Harvey."

Like all the other nights, the man didn't hear him. "Hey, uh, Mike. Just...Just wanted to let you know that it might not be safe for you to, uhm...Well..." Harvey's voice trailed off, and it sounded like a deep breath right next to the phone. "Freddy got me. Not- Uhm, that is to say, Not Freddy-Freddy, but Freddy. I'm having some, uh, trouble remembering some things.

"I know it's gonna sound odd, but uh-" Harvey cleared his throat. "I think this is the last message I can leave you. I'm gonna hope that you survive the week, and that you, uhm...Don't end up like I did?" he coughed, and the static got worse. "Sorry, kid. I have to go now."

A whoosh of air against the receiver signaled the end of the call, and the machine clicked off.

"..What the hell," Mike drew his knees forward until he was sitting on his legs. "Was that?" he looked at the other two, jaw hanging open. "Any ideas? Any at all?"

"That was a final message." the ghost girl met his eyes, her own comically wide. "That was totally a final message!" When they both looked at her, Mike with an eyebrow raised, she sighed. "Sometimes ghosts can leave behind final messages. They're the things that are sometimes the writing on the foggy mirror and things like that. That was his!"

Mike stared at her for a moment, then turned back to the phone. Without saying a word, he walked over to it, putting his hand on the receiver. He took a deep breath, then crossed back over to the chair and slumped down into it.

"Can we just..." he trailed off, both of his hands over his face. "How about we just not talk for a while. I think I need some time to deal with this."

Foxy sat on the ground, his back against the frame of the door. "W-w-w-we'll be right here f-f-for ya, l-l-l-l-lad." he nodded, looking at the little girl. "Wh-when yer r-r-ready." The pirate's jaw tightened into what could be called a smile as she pushed Mike's bag towards him. When Mike looked at her, she brought it up and set it in his lap. At the door opposite Foxy, Bonnie knelt down until they sat on the ground as well, the two animatronic bodies forming sentient walls to keep those inside safe.

"It'll be as okay as it can be." she whispered, dropping down to sit on the floor near Mike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Soooo...
> 
> I am trying to set things up in a certain way, and I hope that I am doing it right. I would appreciate it if you guys took some time to comment on this? Tell me if things aren't making sense?
> 
> Seriously, I'm writing most of this story when it's three in the morning and I'm alone while watching horror movies and horror game playthroughs. If something does not make sense, tell me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Night Five, 11:45 PM:**

Mike walked into the restaurant, passing Artem and Riley as they headed out for the night. 

The younger of the two halfway saluted him as they pass, and Artem smiled at him. "Good night, Mike." they spoke quietly, resting a soft hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "Good luck."

"What do you mean by that?" he stopped mid-stride, frowning. When Artem didn't reply, he turned to look at them. They had a halfway guilty look on their face, and he narrowed his eyes. "What the hell do you-"

"All I mean is that Orsani was in an awful mood when he left today," Artem held up their hands placatingly. "I wanted to wish you good luck if he shows back up before your shift starts. Out of all of us, he has the least sense when it comes to the animatronics and their wish for our deaths, but even he knows enough to not be around past midnight when he's not on shift."

"Well, small favors." Mike grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. "What was he saying?"

Artem shook their head. "Nothing in particular, really. Just- Just something that made me feel the need to wish you luck tonight. He seemed really foul tempered when he left, and I am not actually sure that his need to yell at someone won't outweigh his need to stay away during the night shift."

Mike blew a breath out of one side of his mouth, closing his eyes. "Thanks for the warning." he gave Artem a quick pat on the shoulder, shooing them out of the office. "Go home, you know he wants you here way too early to be legal tomorrow."  
"Will do, see ya." Artem flipped a few fingers up in careful salute, already dragging their bag higher up on their shoulder and walking away.

Mike continued to the office, looking at the clock and nodding slowly. Ten minutes had passed while he talked to Artem, and it was five minutes before the official start of his shift. Ignoring the urge to look at the phone, Mike picked up the tablet and started flipping through the video feeds. 

Time seemed to crawl, but the next time he looked up at the clock, it was midnight.

He fell out of his chair when the phone rang, the tablet skidding across the floor and out into the hallway. A click sounded, followed by the garbled voices all overlapping that he now associated with the ghosts that haunted the building. 

"Mike!" 

Already turning to the hallway to see the ghost girl, Mike opened his mouth to ask her what was happening. She shook her head, motioning at the button for the door. "Close the door! Do it, now!"

Without hesitating, he leapt off of his knees and onto his feet, slamming his fist into the button so hard that he was fairly certain he heard it crack. With that accomplished, she ran into the room, jamming her hand through the wall and yanking on something. Whatever it was that she pulled on, the lights went out immediately following it.

"Wha-"

"Shh!" she hissed at him, a finger on her lips. They both sat there, Mike sliding down the door when she yanked him down. Outside of the door, footsteps echoed quietly, coming to a stop right behind where Mike was sitting. They both heard a bewildered string of curses, a man's voice the only sound in the restaurant.

Mike looked at the little girl, eyes wide. The faint glow she was giving off was enough light to see by, and she nodded, finger still on her lips. When he mouthed the word 'Orsani' at her, she nodded again, slower this time. They waited there, motionless and silent, for a few more minutes before an enraged scream sounded. 

The misplaced tablet hurtled against the window, shattering in a shower of electronic components and a few sparks.

Stomping footsteps walked away from the office, leaving Mike on the floor with the ghost girl, eyes wide and chest seizing up on the fear he wanted to vocalize. They waited for another ten minutes, listening intently for the sound of Orsani returning to the office. When he didn't, Mike stood up slowly and closed the other door. 

"What the hell." he whispered.

She met his eyes, her own looking, amusingly enough, haunted. "I think I know who killed the guy now."

 

**Night Five, 1:49 AM:**

Mike looked over at the ghost girl, taking a deep breath. 

When she nodded at him, he stood up, pushing the chair back and checking where the animatronics were one last time. Chica was in the kitchen, he figured out, because she was messing with the pots and pans. Bonnie was standing next to a table near Pirate Cove, where Foxy was still standing behind the curtain. Freddy was still on stage, but he was facing the camera.

He reached for the long black box that was bolted to the wall under his desk, unlatching it quickly and pulling out the contents. Mike now held a shiny red axe, a thick wooden handle polished to a gleaming warm color. Looking back up at the girl, he nodded in return, standing up and heading to the door. "You're coming with me?"

"Yeah," she whispered, voice shaking as she floated after him. "It's time for me to go."

Together, they left the office, Mike breaking into a run as soon as his toes hit the outside tile. The axe was held in a defensive position over his shoulder, both so that he could swing if needed and so that he wouldn't hit himself with it.

He sped past Bonnie and Foxy, barely aware of the animatronic rabbit reaching for his head as he passed. The thud-thud-thud of Foxy's feet hit the floor behind him, and he knew that if he looked back, he would see the possessed eyes of the children who were stuck here with the ghost girl he had gotten the advice from. 

Mike reached the stage, not pausing for even a moment as he jumped up on it, his left foot almost missing the edge. He sped past Freddy, finally stopping in his adrenalene based rush and hefting the axe up further. 

"Not going to let this keep happening," he growled, letting it swing into the wall behind the main stage. "Not ever again."

As soon as the razor sharp edge of the axe hit the wall, everything stopped. All of the animatronics behind him were still, he could tell by the lack of noise, and the lack of fake fur covered metal hands grabbing him. He swung again, grunting as it shook his arms with the impact. Mike struck the wall again, and then again, his breathing coming in fast pants and gasps, the exertion not something he was used to. 

Slowly, the wall crumbled away under the blade of the axe.

Underneath, exposed in the dim lighting of the main dining area, he could see something that looked fragile and small. Bone colored even in the light, he finally realized that it was a skull and a spine, child sized and shoved into the wall. It led into a light grey shirt with dark blue sleeves, a discolored line on one side of the neck.

He dropped the axe, dropping to his knees in front of the hole in the wall. With gentle hands, he started peeling the rest of the drywall away. When that was done, he sat there for a moment, the little ghost girl floating close enough to be in his peripheral vision. Exhaling shakily, Mike nodded, and without speaking a word, leaned forward only to wrap his arms around the skeleton.

Taking great care not to crumble it, Mike pulled her skeleton out of the wall. "Found you." he whispered, turning around with a little difficultly, setting her bottom half down on the stage. The only reason that any part of her was still connected was because of the clothing she still wore, the exact outfit she had been wearing every single time he had seen her.

"Thanks," she whispered, leaning in closer to her body. "I'm glad I'm not in there anymore."

Mike looked up, catching Freddy's eyes. "Hey Fazbear. Sorry about the damage, needed to get some things done." The bear shuddered slightly, then knelt down next to the human. "There's more, by the way."

"Y-you rescued her," Freddy spoke quietly. Unlike the others, his voice was in almost perfect condition, probably due to him being the leader of the band and the face of the restaurant. "Do you think we c-could rescue the others?" He turned to look at the other three animatronics. "It's been an awfully long time since they've been in the daylight."

With a choked laugh, Mike nodded, still holding carefully onto the skeleton. "I think we need to. They shouldn't have ever been left in the wall."

"And you," someone started speaking, anger evident in their voice. "Should never have found my nephew's victims. I tried, so hard, to hide them from everyone. When he came to me with the first ones, I helped him hide them. I put them places so that they would never be found. I made sure that no one would." 

Mike's eyes went wide, and he set her down on the stage before standing up. "Mister Orsani." he took a deep breath. "I'm gonna guess that your nephew was Jeremy Fitzgerald, right? Crazy guy who was hired without people knowing he was a crazy murderer?"

Orsani's eyes were glinting in the dim light, a snarl stretching his mouth. "Don't you dare, don't you DARE, mock him!" his voice was growing louder. "Yeah, he may have had some problems, but he was a good boy! I promised my sister I would take care of him, I promised I would, and he would never get caught for his-" he broke off, his hands fisted at his sides. "My niece thought that I would shun him for his inclinations, that I would let him take the fall for anything. Rebecca was a stupid little girl, a naive little brat who never thought that she would be the one to take the blame."

"R-r-r-rebecca..." Chica whispered, her beak clicking as the syllables left her. "L-l-little Re-Rebecca."

With a harsh laugh, Orsani nodded. "Oh yes, little Rebecca. With her stupidly bright eyes and her pink little lips and her complete disregard for anything that would keep family safe." he took a menacing step forward, hands raised as if he were going to grab the first being he went near. "I caught hold of her. The little bitch threatened to go to the police when the boy her brother went to school with disappeared. His body never was found either, and I helped with that too!"

Mike heard a soft clicking noise coming from Bonnie, and nearly frowned, stopping himself when Foxy stepped forward and in front of him. 

"Get out of the way, you stupid robots," Orsani reached into his pocket, pulling out a gun. He pulled the hammer back, a manic grin on his face now as he aimed for Mike. "If you all get out of the way, I'll be able to shoot him and you'll be fixed so that you can never tell anyone about this."

"N-no!" Freddy answered him, shifting until he stood in front of both Foxy and Mike. "We are not going to let you hurt him, not when he's try-trying to bring peace for the first time in years. That night guard shoved the bodies of the ones we were su-supposed to protect and entertain inside of us. Y-you shoved Foxy out of sight when you found out that the mess from yo-your nephew's actions messed up his gears."

Orsani shrugged. "The fox is dangerous, he gets put away. I think it might be time for the rest of you to go away as well, not a one of you is fit for use any more anyways. He nearly killed a kid, bit his head off. If it happened, it was probably going to happen no matter what. He would have snapped at some poor kid eventually."

"N-n-n-n-no!" Foxy spoke this time, looking frantic. "I w-w-w-w-w-w-w-would never!" 

Rolling his eyes, Orsani scowled. "Whatever," he hissed as he let a shot go off. The bullet sped through the air, hitting Foxy in the shoulder and knocking him down on top of Mike, who had jumped in the way to keep the animatronic off the top of the skeleton he had pulled out of the wall. With the two tangled together, Orsani went to shoot again, now that he had a clear shot of Mike's head. "Say goodnight, everybody. We're going to have a new filling for the suits. It'll probably take a couple of you to hide the night guard's body."

An eerie tune filled the hall, growing progressively louder the longer it played. It took about ten seconds for it to be at an almost painful decible, Mike's shoulders up near his ears to try and block it out. 

Orsani looked around, his grip on the gun going loose. A soft static noise popped up as well, followed by someone humming. In a terrifying match to the music, the humming was a young girl's voice, and now that she had joined in, the music was obvious. 

"Is that-" Mike blinked a couple of times. "Is that 'Pop goes the Weasel'?"  


Looking around frantically, Orsani yelled at him. "What did you set up? Where is it coming from? WHERE?" he tugged at his hair, trying to keep himself calm but failing. "Where did you get that music?"

The long black limbs of the marionette came into view from the shadows that hid the vent in the wall. As the puppet dragged itself into view, back end still in the music box, Orsani went white. "No." he breathed the word, stepping back and raising both of his hands. They were shaking, and he dropped the gun as he moved back as quickly as he could.

The humming continued, rising in pitch as the marionette dragged itself closer to him. Despite the fact that he could have turned and run from it, it managed to latch around his foot, the rest of it's body unfolding from the box and wrapping around him. All of a sudden, the humming faded out.

"Hello uncle." it breathed out the words, followed immediately by the snap of Orsani's neck.

His body dropped to the ground, the marionette falling with it. Slowly, the music box wound down, and Chica stepped forward to untangle the puppet from the corpse. "I-i-it's alright," she whispered to it. "W-w-w-we know w-who y-you are now." She held it like someone would hold a baby, bring it over to Mike and Foxy, then leaned down to help the pirate captain up off the floor. 

Carefully, Mike set the girl's body down, edging his way off the stage to check Orsani's pulse. The eyes of everyone else in the room followed him as he did so, and he nearly gagged at the thought of what could have happened if the marionette hadn't shown up. After a minute, he let himself drop to the ground, legs shaking. "He's dead." he whispered, brushing his hair out of his eyes and tucking it back up into his uniform hat.

The marionette curled up in Chica's arms, watching over the chicken's shoulder as Bonnie walked over to the music box and picked it up. The rabbit crossed back over to the group of them, setting it down before winding it back up. When the music started up again, it was a softer tune this time. 

Mike recognized that tune as well, tucking his legs so that he was sitting on them, hands in his lap. "But it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died." he whispered, now ignoring the body of his former boss. "You're the thing I've been hearing moving around in the walls when I leave in the morning, aren't you?"

The marionette's head turned to look at him. In Chica's arms, it looked less dangerous than it had a couple of minutes before. The humming started up again, calmly this time, and the weirdly lit eyes went dark, the puppet going completely still.

"She's not here anymore." the ghost girl said, leaning into the group of people. "She's been trapped longer than the rest of us, I'm really not surprised that she's done now." she reached forward, ran her hand over the puppet's head. "Poor Rebecca. Big brothers are supposed to be people you can trust, even if they're jerks sometimes."

Chica set the puppet that had been possessed by Rebecca down on the stage, laid it flat next to the ghost girl's skeleton. "M-m-mike?"

"Yeah?" The guard looked at her, swallowing heavily against the urge to cry.

"What's g-going to h-h-h-happen now?" the mechanical bird asked him. "What a-a-are yo-you going to d-d-do?"

As he stood up, brushing the dust from the drywall off of his uniform, Mike frowned. "Well, I think that my first step is to call the police. We just solved a lot of missing persons cases from the last couple of decades. I- It's time that they got to rest, and their parents need to be informed, and the police will do that. They need burials, and it'll help a lot of people have closure." he looked down at the ghost girl's bones, then at her face. "Are you going to keep the rest of them from re-possessing these guys while I make the call?"

She nodded, stepped closer to her bones, smiled at him. "I will." when she looked down at the body that had been hers, her smile instantly dropped away, turning into a frown as she bent down to look closer. "I'm missing something."

"W-w-what?" Bonnie looked at the bones as well, shooed Mike towards the office. "What's m-missing?" 

"I don't-" A small finger circled the bones that had once made up her neck. "My necklace. Metal chain, an old key." she made a face, trying to remember. "I found it on the ground on my way to school one day."

Freddy walked over to the wall, sticking his arm inside and feeling around, eyes shuttering every few seconds. Eventually, he brought his paw back out, the key sticking to his fingers. "T-the chain broke," he informed her softly, handing it over with a smile. "That's w-why it fell off."

 

**Night Five, 4:00 AM:**

Mike set the phone down, leaning back in the chair. 

He rubbed at his eyes, hard enough to make galaxies swirl behind the lids for a few moments. When he finished with that, he stood up, making his way back out to the main dining area and the animatronics. 

Foxy was the first to notice his return, smiling at the man with his gold colored fangs shining in the lights that were dimming even now, the generator winding down as the hours passed. "A-a-a-ahoy, L-l-l-lad!" he called, waving his hook at him. "C-c-c-c-come ba-back t-ta j-j-join us?"

With a smile, Mike nodded. "Yeah. Police are on their way, and I have no idea what to tell them when they get here. I told them on the phone that Orsani was dead, and that there were at least six bodies hidden in the wall, but I really don't know what else is going to have to be said when they get here." he sighed, sitting on the edge of the stage with the old fox. "I may be looking at a couple of days in police custody, at the very least."

"L-l-l-like we'd let t-t-t-that happen," Bonnie scoffed, then turned fully around from Chica and the ghost girl to face Mike. A soft click came from the rabbit, followed by the hiss of a recording. After a couple of seconds, Orsani's voice echoed from inside them, the very first words he had said upon entering the room playing back for all of them to hear. With an even louder click, the recording shut off, Bonnie shrugging. "A-a-as soon a-as he en-entered, I s-s-started recording what he w-w-was saying."

"State of the art animatronics who used to require recorded voice clips to perform right," Mike marveled, eyes wide. "That is- That's awesome. But how'd you know to record?"

"The other ghosts were whispering it," the ghost girl added to the conversation, meeting Mike's eyes. They didn't frighten him nearly as much now as they had before. She clutched something to her chest, covering it completely with her small hands.

Bonnie patted her head, nodding slowly. "I h-heard t-t-them." They put a hand on her shoulder, looking up when a siren sounded.

"Oh," Mike frowned, looking around at the animatronics. "What about you guys while they're in here?"

With a few exchanged look, the entire group of them stood up and returned to their spots on the stage. "We return to where we go. Yo-You play the recording Bonnie made for them." Freddy nodded once. "Does that work?"

"Yeah." he let out a slow breath. Outside, the sirens came to a stop at the front of the building, red and blue lights flashing through the windows. "Time to end this." he turned to the ghost girl. "Are you coming with me?"

She floated up to him. "I am, yeah. She held out her cupped hands, looking nervous. "Will you make sure that Dota gets this? I'm going away soon, and I want her to have it."

With the same care he had used to get her body out of the wall, he took what she was offering him. "What is this?" he turned it over in his hands, starting the short walk to the front door. It was an old fashioned skeleton key, a dark grey metal with bits of rust. "Is this yours?"

"It was my necklace." she whispered, slowing her pace until she was just behind him, turning to look at the animatronics one last time. With a wave, she grinned at them. "Bye everyone, thanks for watching over me!"

As the door closed behind them, the group of animatronics turned to watch them leave. Foxy waved goodbye last, watching until the door was pulled shut behind them, then tugged his curtain closed and retreated to the back of the cove.

 

**Night Five, 5:30 AM:**

Mike sat on the front steps, hat in his lap and hands on his knees, watching the police wandering in and out of the building. 

The first body to leave the pizzaria was Orsani's, and even though he knew the man was dead, he still flinched backwards. Slowly, after the sounds of drywall being hacked apart, other bodies started being pulled out as well, not even big enough to fill a whole body bag. 

"Sir?" one of the officers approached him, standing awkwardly over him for a second before dropping down to sit on the steps next to him. "Sir, I'm Officer Kinkenny. You're the one who found the missing children, yes?"

With a nod, Mike turned to face the officer, meeting their eyes. Kinkenny was a petite woman with light grey eyes, and she was giving him an odd look. "Yeah, I found them." he cleared his throat, sitting up straighter, then shrugged. "I cut the portion of the wall open that was broken when you guys got here."

"How did you know they were there?" she asked him, matching the posture he had been holding a moment before. Mike relaxed again, twining his fingers together. "How the hell did you even find them?"

With a gesture behind them, towards the building, Mike sighed. "I was told by a coworker of mine that Orsani was a creep, and that he refused police entrance into the building back when a man named Jeremy Fitzgerald was working here." he frowned, then looked at the ground. "If I tell you the whole story, you're going to call me crazy." he whispered.

Kinkenny leaned back on her hands, palms flat against the steps. "Try me." she dared him, an eyebrow raised. "Because you just managed to find the body of my dad's little sister." When he looked up at her again, she nodded. "My dad's the one who filed the report that she was missing. He had a copy of it in his apartment when he died, and the clothing that he described in it matched the clothing we found on one of the bodies."

"Why did he have a copy of it?" Mike made a face. "That seems like it shouldn't be a thing."

"He was a cop," she whispered it, looking up at the sky, where the faintest trace of daylight was shining through. "He never wanted to forget her."

"Alright." Mike turned his entire body to look at her. "There's a ghost who was talking to me." he waited for Kinkenny to laugh, to call him crazy, to slap a pair of handcuffs on him and haul him off.

Strangely, none of that happened.

Instead, Kinkenny nodded slowly, a solemn look on her face. "Who is this ghost?" she voiced the question without a hint of mockery in her tone. If it weren't for the fact that she was suddenly gripping the edge of the stair her hands were on with white knuckles, he would have thought she wasn't put off balance by the admission in any way.

"I don't know her name," he admitted, turning slightly to point out the little girl standing off to the side. "But I know that her body is the one I pulled out of the wall." he watched as Kinkenny followed his finger with her eyes, stood up slowly to walk over to the girl. "Want me to go with you?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." she muttered, focused entirely on the girl. 

The ambled over to her, occasionally stopping to say something to one of the other officers. When they finally got to her, the ghost girl looked at them reluctantly, having been staring at the sky. "I forgot how pretty the moon was. And the sun. And all of the stars." she spoke quickly, excitement and awe in her voice. Now that she was in natural light, Mike could see through her, the realization that she was little more than dust finally sinking in.

"They are very pretty," Kinkenny agreed, one hand shakily running through the small ringlets of hair that were escaping the bun on the back of her head. "So, you're a ghost. You helped Mike here find the bodies."

She nodded, her hair swirling around her. "It took a little convincing, and I was sure that he was going to die before he could help. You're also going to find the bodies of the missing night guards hidden in the floor of one of the back rooms. The scary man hid them there, collected them after he came in each morning and found them dead." she sighed, closing her eyes. "Is there wind right now?"

Kinkenny blinked, then shook her head. "No. There's a little bit of a breeze, but nothing substantial."

"Aww." the girl whined, pouting. "That's not fun." she opened her eyes again, the red fading from them, slowly being replaced by a dark blue color. The black in them was fading out as well, replaced by a normal white. "The ghosts from the murderer's victims possessed the animatronics and forced them to kill every guard who came in. They don't have enough permanent memory to realize that it's not the same person."

Mike put a hand on her shoulder. "Are they leaving now?"

"They're going." she met his eyes, hers almost completely human looking now. Without any warning, she wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I think it's time for me to go too." she pulled back, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's been a long time, and I am really tired."

"You be careful, alright?" Mike tried to think of something to say that wasn't going to make him cry. "I don't know what happens when you go, but you need to be careful. You helped me a lot, and I really would hate for you to be hurt."

Watching the two of them, Kinkenny drew back, one hand covering her mouth, her other arm crossed over her chest. 

"Oh!" the ghost girl grinned suddenly, her buck toothed smile with a half empty space highlighting just how much of her life she had missed out on. "I never told you my name! I didn't remember it, but now I do, and I want you to know!"

"Oh?" Mike raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"My name is Diana," she laughed. "Thank you for everything, Mike. See you later!" she waved at Kinkenny as her fingers started fading out of sight, the edges of her form fading out as well. In a matter of seconds, she had disappeared, the only proof of her ever being there lying in his pocket.

With a sad smile, Mike waved at the empty spot. "Bye, Diana."

Kinkenny cleared her throat. "Sorry, hate to interrupt the farewell, but I have to ask." she gestured back at the building. "How did Orsani die?"

Mike made a face. "His niece, who was murdered by her big brother Jeremy, possessed the marionette-puppet thing and snapped his neck." he made a 'what can you do' face. "Her body was found back when she was first murdered, but Rebecca Fitzgerald didn't go to rest until a couple of hours ago."

 

**Night Five, 6:00 AM:**

Opening the door of the pizzeria, Mike sighed. 

When it closed behind him, he walked over to the wall next to Pirate Cove and leaned against the wall. Looking at the closed curtain, he shook his head. "She's gone now." he announced to the room at large, voice catching on the words. "She drifted away, and the police are leaving now. They're got the bodies that they could retrieve without a full demolition squad."

Nothing moved, and he wasn't surprised.

Turning towards the main stage, he frowned at the wall that stood behind it. It was wrapped in police tape, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that the animatronics weren't. He could see through the drywall to the space behind it. What he saw was a large stage, at least five times the size of the one that was currently accessible. There were yellow spots at regular intervals on it, the early morning light streaming in through the dusty window and covering the room. 

The door opened, and the entirety of the morning crew came walking in, talking quietly. Mike turned to face them, an expression of discomfort taking over. "We don't have to worry about the animatronics anymore." he informed them.

Brianna stopped, jaw dropping. "I- What?"

"Orsani is dead, Harvey is dead, the ghosts of the dead kids are gone. Orsani murdered Harvey, and covered up the murders his nephew committed." he nodded at Brianna. "There's a reason he creeped your mom out. Jeremy was his nephew." Mike made a wordless gesture, frustration growing as he tried to verbalize what he was feeling. "I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but please, you have to believe me."

"Strangely," Brianna cleared her throat. "I think I do." 

With a raised hand, Michelle stepped forward, one arm wrapped around a tool box with a broken handle. "Are the animatronics alright? Did you hurt them?" She glanced around the room, visibly relaxing when she spotted them in their stage formation. "You didn't, right?"

"I didn't." he assured her. "And I actually have a favor to ask of you."

She walked closer to him, cautious steps sounding loudly in the room. "What is it?"

"You know the otter, right? Used as spare parts for Bonnie." he gestured towards the backstage area that he knew contained Dota, who was currently offline. When Michelle nodded, he grinned. "Good. Her name is Dota, and she's in desperate need of repair."

Michelle's eyes went wide, and her face went slack. "I was told that she didn't work anymore, and that she was just to be used for spare parts."

"Who told you that?"

"Or-" she broke off, horror knocking the joy of doing such a large repair job off of her face. "Orsani told me. He lied to me." a single sob tore out of her throat with such force that he thought she was going to start coughing. "She's still aware and working, isn't she?"

Mike nodded, and Michelle's free hand flew up to cover her mouth, eyes tearing up.

"I will," she choked out the words, nodding rapidly. "I- I will. I'll fix her up and apologize for ripping bits of her off and I never knew that she still was alive or I would never have done it and I would never have-" she cut off, Artem putting their arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. 

Riley stepped forward and said that only words that Mike had ever heard him say. "What do we do now? All of our senior management is gone, we're kind of screwed."

With another sigh, Mike nodded. "I think I'm going to contact the head of the company." he explained. "We'll figure out what to do. As for right now, we need to get our stuff and get out. The police will be back later today, and then we can come back in once they clear it."

The group of them followed him back to the office, walking in a line behind him like ducklings following their mother.

"Do you know what happened to Harvey?" Brianna changed her pace so that she could walk next to Mike. "Did they actually shove him into a suit, did they succeed at that?" she stayed near the door while the rest collected the few things that had been left in the office. "I could have sworn that he'd survive them, he's worked here for ages..."

"I think Orsani might have killed him." Mike draped his jacket over his arm and stood next to her. "Again with the 'gonna sound crazy' thing, but Harvey left a final message...As a ghost...And I think that he got confused with who was who and he told me that 'Freddy' had gotten him. Orsani was the original Freddy's uncle, and from what I've seen, they look a hell of a lot alike." he rubbed at his nose, pausing with his hand over his face. "Harvey was the original Bonnie, so it'd make sense for him to think of the animatronic Freddy as Freddy-Freddy. So when faced with trying to leave behind a warning, a ghost with quickly fading memories and a sense of something dangerous would have warned me about the wrong guy."

Brianna looked at him, her head cocked to one side as she tugged her uniform hat sideways. "...Why do you know so much about ghosts?"

"Again, don't think I'm crazy?" 

She laughed. "Well, it's a little late for that, especially since you stuck this job out. But honestly, until I am given total proof otherwise, you're as sane as could be in my eyes."

"I met one of the ghosts here." Mike looked at the ground, feeling a wave of sadness hit him. "Her name was Diana, and I learned a lot about the ghosts that were here from her. The animatronics were possessed by ones that wanted nothing more than revenge on the one who killed them."

"Why didn't she try to kill you, if she was one of them?" Brianna frowned. "I've always wondered if it was something like that. Until the kids started disappearing, none of the animatronics were acting funny."

Mike leaned against the door frame, watching the other three laughing at something Riley had said. "I asked her that too."

"What'd she say?"

"She basically told me that she remembered her family, instead of her murder." he shrugged, scruffling a hand through the hair on the back of his neck. "She finally got to be free from here, less than an hour ago. Same as Orsani's niece. Both of them finally got to get the hell out of here."

"Orsani's niece?" Brianna's gaze turned on him, eyes sharp. "What do you mean?"

"Rebecca Fitzgerald." Mike filled in the blank space of a name, smiling sadly at the thought of the girl. "She was Jeremy's first victim that was killed in the pizzeria. She- Do you remember the marionette, from one of the other branches?"

"I do, yeah." she shuddered. "That thing always gave me the creeps. What about it?" Brianna paused, face twisting. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"Rebecca was possessing the marionette." Mike cleared his throat. "She snapped her uncle's neck. I'd say it was pretty good closure for the little girl who had been a cold case as far as her murder went."

Brianna nodded. "I'd say it's more than fair that she got to kill that fucker. It's sounding like he was covering for his nephew."

"He was." 

The other three guards gathered in front of them, Artem having pulled some of the artwork off of the walls. The drawings were, despite the child's view of the world, obviously artwork of the guard holding hands with the animatronics or dancing. When they noticed that Mike was looking, Artem raised an eyebrow and smiled. "What?"

"You actually have fanart of you." Mike shook his head. "C'mon," he sighed. "Let's get out of here so that the police can bring in the right people and retrieve the last of the bodies."

The walk back to the main dining area was silent.

Brianna was walking next to Michelle, a hand on the bustier girl's shoulder, while Riley locked step with Artem. Mike stood back from them, watching them walk ahead of him, held the door for them to leave before him. 

With one last look at the four animatronics, Mike smiled sadly. "Bye guys." He turned away, and the door closed behind him with a soft thud, a resounding note of finality.

The restaurant stood empty, already feeling abandoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the end of what I have already written.
> 
> Tell me what you think?


	7. IT'S ME

"So, your name is Mike Schmidt, right?"

Mike turned to the person speaking to him, already nodding. "Yeah. You're Rosalia Fazio?" he glanced at her outfit, trying to stuff his nerves back enough to have this conversation. Rosalia Fazio, daughter of the original owner of Fazbear Entertainment, was a smartly dressed woman. Her hair was pulled back in an elegant twist, and her shoes probably cost more money than he could hope to make in four years of fulltime work. 

"Yes, I am." she looked him over appraisingly, head tilted back just enough to make it seem like she was looking down her nose at him. "I must admit, I was quite surprised to get your call. Mister Schmidt, you are aware that the business is failing, yes?" she sighed, posture relaxing slightly as she looked at the building. "For all my father loved this place, it doesn't seem to be working out. There's debt to be paid and there's the matter of the animatronics..." 

Nodding at everything she was saying, Mike shrugged. "I get that, I do."

"And you yourself were involved in the incident that called in the police." Rosalia crossed her arms over her chest, taking a few small steps forward. "You were, in fact, the one that called them."

"Yeah, that was me." Mike licked his lips. "I just-" he closed his eyes, trying desperately to remember what he had been planning on telling her. "I had a few ideas that might make things better." he waved a hand at the restaurant behind him, the once cheerily lit windows dark. "I know that there have been rough patches, but I just thought that I could help."

"...I-" she put a hand to her head, eyes closed, and sighed again. "You seem to share the same idealism that my father held so dear." Rosalia opened her eyes and raised an elegently plucked eyebrow at him. "And what, might I ask, are your ideas?"

"Well, for one, make the animatronics less scary." Mike shook his head. "They're kind of terrifying as is, especially with the wear and tear on them. You already have, on staff and everything, a mechanic who is willing to build new ones for almost nothing." he waved his hands around. "You have so many who would be willing to watch this place succeed by their own work, and you aren't putting them to use!"

Rosalia looked at him, frowning. "We do? Orsani never informed me of that."

"Orsani also never told you that he helped cover up the murders his nephew commited while working here. He helped Jeremy Fitzgerald hide the bodies of small children in the walls." taking a deep breath, Mike held up his hands. "Anyways. Michelle Kerry, she's twenty-four years old, she's worked here for the last several years, and she has had plans drawn up for new animatronic bodies for the ones currently here." 

"What of you?" Rosalia spoke after a moment, a soft smile on the edges of her lips. "What would you do to see this place succeed?"

Mike stood up straight, his spine locked in place. "I was hoping that I could convince you to let me be the manager here." he tucked some of his hair behind one ear. "I know I didn't hold that position before, and that you probably haven't seen my resume, but I know these guys better than anyone else you could bring in." He pulled a folder out of his bag, holding it out to her. "I did bring a copy of my resume. I know I don't have much on it, but the things I have worked on and for are good things."

She took it, flipping it open and scanning it slowly. "Mister Schmidt?"

"Yeah?"

With a small smirk, Rosalia Fazio looked up from the papers in her hands, meeting his eyes. "I think that would be a wise decision on my part. You're good with the team, you've got experience here, and you clearly have a good moral compass if you're willing to report a superior for misconduct." She flipped it closed, sliding it into the attache case she was carrying. "Welcome back." she nodded as she held out one of her hands. 

Shaking it, Mike grinned. "I just want this place to not go under. I've got good memories of it, despite some things that happened."

"Just be aware," she turned away slightly, already heading back to her car. "I may hold some of the same idealistic views as my father, but I am not him. I have hope that this business will not run me down in the same way that it did him."

Mike saluted as she walked off, got into her car and drove away.

He waited until the car was completely gone, then turned and headed back up the steps. Inside, on the floor of the main dining area, Michelle was redrawing blueprints for the new bodies she was going to build, Artem and Riley were clearing away debris from the destroyed wall, and Brianna was sweeping all of the resulting dust into a pile. 

What was the most shocking, however, was the sight of the animatronics helping them out. 

Bonnie was breaking down the wall a chunk at a time, Freddy helping to stabilize them. Both of them were watching to make sure that none of it landed on the humans below them. From the clattering noises he could hear in the kitchen, Mike was fairly certain that he knew where Chica was. 

"I think we just got approval." Mike informed the room at large, jogging across the floor to where Artem and Riley were. "She welcomed me to the team, I have a feeling that she's going to contact Michelle, and I have hope that we're not going to lose these guys."

"That," Michelle pushed the pencil she was using behind one ear as she looked up at him. "Is really fucking awesome. You told her that I'd be willing to do it for very little, right? I don't want to seem desperate, but I really want to do this." she grinned at him. "Please tell me you told her about me and my willingness to do this."

"I did." Mike assured her, holding out a hand to help steady Riley on his feet. "I made sure she knew. Apparently Orsani told her that no one was willing or able to work on these guys."

Riley scowled. "If I had the chance to hit that guy hard enough to break his head, I would take it." 

Reaching across the piece of wall they were holding, Artem stroked a few fingers through their boyfriend's hair. "He's dead now, and we don't have to deal with him anymore. We just have to deal with what he caused." 

The entire group of humans looked up as one when a loud crashing sound echoed around the room. Freddy had slammed himself through the wall, bringing most of it down. With Bonnie helping him up, the bear hummed a few bars of the music box that he normally played. "Well, there we go." 

Mike laughed. "Little impatient?"

"The re-rest of the band is in here." Freddy explained, pushing the last several feet of wall down. "We've missed them quite a lot."

The missing band members were resting against the walls, or against the edges of the stage. True to what Diana had mentioned, there was a much bigger stage and several dusty tables that looked capable of seating a couple dozen people. "Wow." Mike whispered, looking at everything carefully.

"T-t-this place was amazing, o-o-o-o-once." Bonnie answered him, leaning closer to Freddy. "We had fans and friends and f-family." the rabbit turned to Michelle. "Already noticing a difference in the vo-voice box!" they told her gleefully. "Thank you!" Freddy's arm tightened around them, the bear looking much happier than he once had. 

Michelle laughed. "I'm just glad I could figure it out enough to fix that."

"Been meanin' ta ask, lass." came a voice from behind them, a gleaming hook waving in the light as Foxy waved at the humans. "How is it ya got enough resources ta fix us up?"

"My dad," Michelle turned and put her arms around the fox. "He's a research scientist, and he's got the patent on a fake skin thing. It's what gave me the idea for making you guys look more human in the first place." she shrugged, letting go of the pirate so that he could get past her. "I told him that I needed materials for a big project, he asked me what I needed. I then got several big packages in the mail, and they have been sitting in my apartment ever since."

"You-" Mike rolled his eyes. "You're very sneaky about this."

"What? Orsani told me I couldn't move forward with the plans, I was furious and went ahead with some of it." she made a face. "As if the disapproval of a dickface who seriously was not of the good could make me stop."

Foxy's jaw creaked a little as he watched her cross the room to help the others with clearing things away. "I'm glad that yer a t-t-tenacious lass."

With a quick pat at her pocket to ensure that her wrench was still there, Michelle grinned at him. "I love robotics, I love building machines, and to have a group of people that are sentient animatronics? Are you kidding me? There is no way in hell that I am letting that go to waste." she paused, having picked up a shard of drywall. "You're on your way to getting your crew back, by the by. Dota's repairs are going nicely, but I am having trouble coming up with matching materials to fix her up enough for her to move around until I get her new body going."

The pirate nodded, holding out his arms for Artem to transfer pieces of wall to. "Take yer time, l-lass." he looked at the now accessible stage, dropping the chunks where they were supposed to go before he crossed to the edge of it. Quietly, he knelt next to some of the still animatronics, a careful hand on the head of the smallest one. "Bernard and H-harris. Some o' the b-b-best o' me crew."

Michelle flitted from chore to chore, eventually settling on sitting next to Foxy and watching him run a gentle caress over cheeks here and there. "Your crew all here?"

"Most." he muttered, looking towards the backroom. "Dota ain't, but we know where she is, and there's a couple that got shipped off ta one o' the other branches." he made a garbled sort of sound, the repairs that Michelle had made to his voice apparent. "One o' them was another fox. She was only around fer a few years, but she made a good friend. When she were shipped off, it brought a sadness ta the place."

With a startled noise, Mike brought himself back into the conversation. "Was she pink?"

"Pieces o' her were," Foxy corrected softly, looking at the man. "Why is it yeh ask?" he patted the floor next to him, between his knee and Michelle. 

Mike sat down next to them, shrugging. "I think I may have found her in the storage room. If she's the only one that's pink, that is. I found a box with a tangle of pieces and a...I think it's a head? There's an ear sticking up out of it, but there's also an eye at a different place." he sighed. "I'll have to drag the box out and show you."

Raising a hand, Freddy made a sound that resembled a cleared throat. "I can help you with that."

Sitting there for a moment longer, Mike nodded and stood back up. "Alright then, off we go. You know where the storage room is, right?" he started heading for the room as he spoke, the bear following. 

"I do," Freddy reassured him, pausing to plop his hat down on Bonnie's head. The rabbit made a giggling sort of noise, but didn't otherwise respond. "I've been here for years, I know where almost everything is." he reached a hand out to pat Mike on the shoulder. "Thank you for he-helping us. You don't owe us anything, and you're s-still doing this."

Mike grinned at him, pausing at the door with one hand on the knob. "I used to come here as a kid, I've got good memories of this place. Y'know, before the ghosts tried to kill me using you guys as weapons."

"...How often as a kid?" Freddy asked slowly, eyes halfway shuttered as he followed the man into the room. 

Hefting a few boxes around, Mike grunted, lifting one over his shoulder to set it on top of a pile that was carefully stacked so that it wouldn't fall down. "Uh-" he took a deep breath that turned into a relieved sigh when Freddy took the box from him. "When I could? A couple of friends of mine would have parties here, and then sometimes just get food here to have a special dinner out during the week. They'd take me along with them." 

Freddy blinked at him, mouth opening and closing slowly. "Were you a-able to be here in nineteen eighty seven?"

"You're trying to figure out if I was the one that Foxy bit, aren't you?" Mike looked at him, crossing to the other side of the crate they had come in to retrieve. "I was, yeah. I know he didn't mean to, especially now that I know there were bone fragments and stuff messing up the gears inside of him."

"And you're still helping us." Freddy spoke with a tone of awe.

With a shrug, Mike frowned. "Like I said, I like this place. I like you guys. The bite didn't kill me, it just kind of...I lost a bit of skull, and a little bit of my left frontal lobe was damaged. My logic and reasoning are a bit off, and I sometimes don't make the best decisions, but I'm still alive and well."

After a moment of silence during which they both hefted a side of the crate, Freddy snickered. 

"What?"

The bear shook his head, eyes closed. "I was wondering why you kept coming back." he laughed, a hint of his music in the sound. "Even when the ghost children kept trying to kill you, you kept coming back."

Mike laughed as well, jostling his end of the crate. "Like I said, I like it here and you're all good guys. I may not have known that when I started working here, but I know it now. None of you deserve to rust away in a storage space somewhere because some dick can't keep his nephew from being a murdering asshole."

 

When they reached the main area again, Foxy and Michelle were each holding one of the other animatronics, and someone had managed to restore the lights.

Michelle had her arms around the littlest one, the hound pup dressed like a child's idea of a pirate. From the looks of him, he was meant to be a counterpart to his father, who was dressed like an actual pirate. Foxy was holding the head of Bernard and digging his hook in under the back edge of it. Next to them, Bonnie was gesturing at something, the words not quite loud enough to be heard across the once grand dining hall. 

"Wow..." Mike looked around the room, seeing all of the details now that the lights were on. The walls were painted in a mural fashion, the edges of it that were visible a stark white that was stained in several places. "They covered it over when they walled it up, didn't they? That would have been so cool looking."

The old paint that had caught his attention was an expanse of inky dark sky, bright pinpricks that imitated stars. At the bottom of it was a triple masted ship, like the kind you would see in a story book about pirates. The scene faded at the edges, transitioning into a scene of a little cottage with a cut away side so that the inside was exposed.

It looked cozy, the kind of place that would have made anyone feel at home. 

Freddy nudged his shoulder with a finger, setting his side of the box down. "I think this is her, Foxy." he spoke quietly, a reminder to the room of the reason they had been separated. 

With a happy little hum, Foxy dropped to his knees next to the crate, prying the edge of it up. As he spotted the ear sticking out of the top, he whistled. "This b-b-be her!" he latched his hook around one of the pieces of metal sticking out and stood quickly, dragging backwards with all of his not inconsiderable strength. 

The crate creaked, and then partially collapsed as the pink fox was pulled from it.

Eventually, Foxy stood with her in his arms, carefully untangling what had become mangled over the years. Michelle, having set Harris carefully next to his father, approached cautiously, reaching out to take her head in her hands. "She's been abused." she frowned, looking the bundle of parts and limbs over. "Who did the work on her?"

"After Foxy's gear s-s-seized up," Bonnie started, Freddy's hat in their hands, "It was decided that she was too dangerous to have in any acting capacity. S-s-s-so they tore down her version of Pirate Cove that had been built after she was transferred to a different l-location and made her into something th-the kids could p-p-p-p-p-play with."

Foxy finished untangling her, still staying quiet, and looked at Michelle. Without another word, Michelle flipped the hidden switch on the back of the animatronic's neck, managing to hold still when the fox suddenly jolted in her arms. 

Instead of words, a long drawn out screech sounded, making everyone cover their eyes and stagger backwards. Holding the fox that had become known as the Mangle, Foxy dropped to the ground. When she tried to speak again, it came out as a garbled mess, eerily similar to the voices of the ghost children.

Michelle stepped forward, a hand pressing against the Mangle's nose, calming noises her first instinct.

Slowly, a step at a time and with much caution on her part, Michelle managed to get the fox quiet, cradling her head like an infant. Mangle whined, a high pitched repeat of a noise that sounded absolutely miserable. "I know." Michelle whispered, hugging her tighter. "I know sweetheart, I know. I'll get started on a voice box that works right away, okay?" she pressed a kiss to the fox's forehead. "I'm Michelle, and I'm a mechanic and I will make it so that you can tell me what you need."

"Well," Freddy began when the room went silent. "At least we know we're in good hands."

"What you have," Michelle shot back, still hugging the broken animatronic to her chest. "Is an obsessive mechanic who wants to fix all the robotics, a guy who is willing to set down his entire life to make this happen, and two other people who really want to make sure that the other two don't die." She glanced at Artem and Riley. "Fairly certain that they are going to be the ones dragging us out of our respective caves when it comes time to go home for the night."

The two of them saluted her with matching grins, Riley wrapping his arm around Artem's waist. 

Mike laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah. We're going to be a bit of a handful when it comes time to go home at night." he gestured at Michelle. "We've talked about this before, we both came to grips with our obsessive nature."

She grinned at him, then kissed the tip of the Mangle's ear, petting her head reassuringly. "Hear that? We're determined to make things better for you guys." she turned to Freddy. "Do you know if she's one of the ones that has the criminal database?" 

"She does," Freddy kneeled next to them, waving at Mangle with a partially moth eaten paw. "But my question is, since she was working at the location the murderer got transferred to, does she know why it suddenly stopped working?" When the Mangle nodded, he nodded back at her, reaching for her head and patting her nose. "When you can talk again, you need to tell this lady r-right here. She's one of the good ones."

Mangle made a purring noise in her ruined voice box, the tail that was almost detached from her perking up somewhere in the pile of pieces that made her. 

Sitting off to the side, Foxy grinned at the two, raising his hook in the air in salute. "It warms me heart ta know that we have such friends in the world." he looked at Mike. "Thank ye, lad. Ye rescued us from a heap o' trouble, we woulda been in the trash if ye hadn't a come along." he patted the man on the head. "Yer somethin' special."

Flushing slightly from the compliment, Mike held out a hand to help the Captain up, dragging backwards with all of his weight. When he finally got the fox on his feet, he turned to Michelle. "I think I need to find someone who specializes in clothing. They're going to need clothes when it's time for their new bodies to be put into use." he gestured at them. "Particularly if you're going ahead with some of the designs pieces that I saw on those blueprints."

"Yeah, that's true." Michelle leered at him for half a second. "I intend to be really very thorough when it comes to making them look just right. Nothing happens without their approval, but I am going to make sure that some things do get put in there."

Mike cleared his throat, looking at his watch. "Oh, hey, look at that, it's six."

"You're not on night shift anymore, Mike." Michelle gleefully reminded him. "What's the big hurry?"

As if to make a point and save him from answering all at once, his stomach growled, echoed by Riley's stomach. "That's why. We've been here for the last eight hours, and there's not been food happening. Chica hasn't yet given the all clear on the kitchen and it's implements just yet, so I am going to run down the street and buy takeout for all of us." Mike looked around the room. "Unless you're calling it a day?"

Michelle clutched tighter to Mangle, shaking her head. "Hell no." Riley and Artem followed her lead, each of them shrugging when Mike turned to them. 

"I want to take a good look at the cameras." Artem explained, gesturing at the ones that were currently on the walls. "I want to see if there's an easy replacement we could make with them. These ones are easily twelve years old, at least. There's better tech for cheaper than these were when they were first sold."

Riley raised a hand, nodding at Mike. "I'll go with you, I know what Artem and Michelle like to eat."

"What, you guys forgetting about me?" from behind them, Brianna spoke up finally, grinning at the entire room when everyone jumped. "I don't blame you, I blend in quite a bit." she gestured at Michelle. "I think I'm going to stay here with her. As for clothing, you should probably use the people you have, and you are so lucky that I can do that. And I am willing to do that." she sighed. "Long days at Freddy's don't mean what they used to."

She walked out of the shadows that were cloaking the backstage access door, a key in her hand. When she got across the room, she handed it to Michelle. "Found a thing you probably should have."

Mike pulled on his coat, waving Riley over. "Alright then. Well, we should be back in less than an hour, I think."

With that said, the two men basically fled out into the darkening night. 

 

After they had left, Brianna sat down next to Michelle and grinned at her.

"So the key I gave you?" she pointed at the backstage area. "It goes to that door. That's where the animatronics used to go when they were on break, and they needed time away from the kids for repair."

Michelle nodded, still fiddling with the gears in Mangle's neck, trying to figure something out to make it so that the female fox could speak to her. "That's awesome, thanks Bri."

"You should go look, I think that there's parts back there as well." Brianna lowered her voice, leaning closer and nudging her shoulder against the younger woman's. "It's kind of cool back there, y'know? Like, really cool."

Dragging her attention away from the animatronic in her arms, Michelle frowned. "Bri? Are you feeling alright? You're not sounding like you."

"I'm totally fine!" the red head insisted, her grin stretching across her face in an odd way, forcibly making Michelle think of something going after prey. "Why do you ask?" she gestured down at herself with one hand, leaning back on the other. "Completely fine!"

With a shrug, Michelle stood up, carefully arranging Mangle so that she could walk with the fox on her shoulder. "I'm going to go talk to Chica about something, I think I remember her saying that she knows the inner workings of some of the types of animatronics really well. I'll get to the backstage area soon, alright?"

She walked off, feeling Brianna's eyes on the back of her neck with every step she took.

When she got to the kitchen, she did indeed head for the chicken, but the look of fear on her face made Chica falter in the cheery greeting she was about to chirp out. "Chica, was there ever a backstage area that you guys used?" Michelle whispered, looking over her shoulder. 

"T-there was, yeah." Chica tilted her head, eyes shuttering a couple of times. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Brianna just brought me the key to it, and she's acting really weird." Michelle offered the key to the bird, looking back over her shoulder again, in case Brianna had decided to follow her. The busty mechanic nearly jumped out of her skin when someone did enter the kitchen, but it was only Bonnie making an appearance. 

"Are you t-two alright?" they asked, coming closer. "That can't be comfortable." 

Michelle thanked the rabbit quietly as they took Mangle off of her shoulders, settling the ruined fox on their own. "I'm worried. Brianna's not acting like herself, and she disappeared for way too long to go check out the backstage area. Now she's talking like, well...Like me. I'm aware I have a weird accent, and I'm aware that it's not that common, but it sounds sort of like she's mocking me for it, and she has never done that before."

"Wait, backstage?" Bonnie frowned as much as they could. "Backstage hasn't been used in years, even before it was blocked off. The door was locked, and the key was kept close by, but no one entered it anymore."

"...Almost afraid to ask why." Michelle met their eyes. "But I want the answer to that."

"That's the room that the rumours of a haunting started in." Chica informed her. "They locked it down, and a couple of the old costumes were stored in there. I don't think that there's anyone back there, but I may be r-remembering wrong."

Michelle held her hand out for the key again. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

"You're going to open it?" 

She shrugged, reaching up to hug Bonnie around the neck. "Wish me luck, because I am going to open it." she walked out of the kitchen, looking around the room before she headed for the grand stage. 

Strangely, Brianna had left the room, leaving Freddy as the only occupant of the space besides the animatronics that were in off mode. "Michelle?" the bear asked quietly, looking behind her to where Bonnie and Chica were now standing. The two had come out of the kitchen after her, watching, with Mangle making a stuttering noise on the rabbit's shoulders.  
Fitting the key in the lock, Michelle turned it carefully, the resulting click almost deafening in the silence of the room. 

Pulling open the door, Michelle waited for a moment, leaning back as a cloud of dust billowed out in her face. Coughing, she waved it away, then tilted her upper body into the room, looking both ways. On her right, there was nothing but another door that had once led to the main stage. 

When she turned to her left, however, she screamed.

A pair of padded paws dragged her backwards, pressing her against the fake fur of Freddy's chest, the bear having rushed across the room to get her out the moment she had made a noise. "Are you alright? What w-was it?"

Michelle, on the edge of hyperventilating, shook her head, a hand on her chest. "I think it's just an empty suit, probably one of your extras. Sorry about the scream, it just scared the hell out of me." she gestured at the door. "Set me down? I want to take another look."

He complied, letting her get her balance back before letting go completely. "I am going to go back there with you." he informed her, giving her no room to argue.

"Hey," Michelle held up her hands, giving in. "If the eight foot tall bear wants to be my protection, I am all for it. I don't think I'll need it, but if I do, I'd like to have it." She stepped back towards the back room, shrugging. "I guess it just startled me because it was standing up in the middle of the room, like it had recently been exited."

Freddy swept an arm forward, allowing her to go first. "Well, we just want to make sure that that's the only reason it scared you."

The room was exactly as she had just seen it, the Freddy suit still standing up in the middle, one hand raised and clutching a microphone. "See? I think I just overreacted. Although," she squinted in the dim light, pulling a flashlight from her belt. "Is that thing a different color?" she turned to Freddy. "Was there ever a gold version of you?"

"Miche-" Freddy was cut off as the door slammed shut between them.

The sound of something dragging on the floor behind her made Michelle spin around, aiming her flashlight down. With the door slammed shut, the dim light had all but been cut off, except for a strip of it by the bottom of the door. What she saw, illuminated by the hazy beam of light from her flashlight, was nowhere near reassuring. 

The feet of the Golden Freddy were moving, the suit becoming mobile without an endoskeleton inside of it. 

On the other side of the door, there were several thuds, like the animatronics banging against it. Michelle could hear Chica yelling her name, could hear the main door being slammed shut and Mike's voice joining in. On the floor in front of her, she could just make out something written in what looked like blood. 

'IT'S ME'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Hehehehehe?
> 
> Tell me what you think?


	8. Our Task Is Not An Easy One

Michelle took a step back, keeping her flashlight on the Freddy suit. 

When it had her almost backed into a corner, she jammed herself against the wall, ducked underneath it's outstretched arms and ran for the back of the room. Shining her light around almost wildly, she looked at the collection of suits that lined the walls, shuddering in horror as she realized that the very first ones had simply been put on a shelf.

Behind her, the Golden Freddy moved closer, an added screeching sound making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. 

Despite the fact that she wasn't a very fast runner, the suit had yet to catch up to her, and when Michelle peeked back at it, it was stuck on the corner of one of the shelves. What passed for eyes on it's face were blank, empty hollows that were filled with the shadows of wires when her light flashed over it.

Michelle took a deep breath, sinking back further into the shadows, holding her breath as she heard the tearing sound of fake fur that accompanied the Golden Freddy ripping free. With each step towards her, she shook her head.

"Oh..." she whimpered, looking up at the equally hollow eyes of the costumes. 

What was it that Mike had told them about the ghost children? Hadn't he said something about them being simplified hauntings because of-

Her eyes went wide, and she jolted upright. Setting her flashlight on the shelf and making sure to point it towards the costumes and not the murderous suit, she dragged the head of the original Foxy costume towards her, giving it a quick swipe to clear out the cobwebs. With every passing second, her heart rate skyrocketing, Michelle could hear the bear coming towards her. Staying as calm and as quiet as she could, she pulled on the rest of the costume.

Fully dressed, she snagged the flashlight off of the shelf, tucking it in her belt and turning it off. With that done, she let herself go limp against the wall, let her head hang against her chest. Slowly, so slow that it felt like an eternity before anything happened, Golden Freddy walked in front of her, enough room between her and the rest of the room that they didn't touch.

She waited until it had gone past, then bolted for the door. Despite the fact that the others couldn't open it earlier, it came open easily now.

Behind her, nearly deafening her, came the sound of what she would later describe as pure rage, thundering footsteps coming back towards her as she took a breath of fresh air through the musky mask, felt hands on her shoulders.

With one last look behind her, she watched as an empty Bonnie costume leapt into the path of the Golden Freddy, the purple rabbit's twin dragging the possessed bear down. 

That was all she saw before she was being dragged completely into the light, the arms of several people wrapped tightly around her. "Guys," she choked out, halfway to laughter already. "Need to breathe!"

Mike was the first to let go, a hand pressed to his chest. "Shit, what the hell happened?"

"Door slammed behind me, Golden Freddy tried to kill me." she motioned at the door behind her, then pulled the mask off. "Remembered what you said about the hauntings becoming echoes because of how long they'd been around. Figured I'd give it a shot." she gestured down at her new outfit. "This is what the original Foxy looked like."

"Any reason for choosing that one?" Freddy asked, looking down at her, a hand still near her shoulder. 

"I figured that it was a Freddy, so it would know that wasn't right." she waved at Bonnie, who stood at Freddy's shoulder. "I didn't want to dress up like you because I think it's possessed by the murderer of all those kids and the original actor for you was picked on by that guy." she motioned at Chica, the chicken standing against the door and listening intently. "And I wouldn't have fit into the Chica costume. I'm a bit, well, I'm going to say curvier than the original." 

Foxy leaned forward, nabbed the hat on the tip of his hook and pulled it off the mask. "Mine now."

"Always has been, Cap'n!" Michelle saluted him, grinning. "I don't ever want to do that again."

With a wave at the door, Mike raised an eyebrow. "How did you get away from it? I saw it running up behind you, trying to grab your back, and then there was complete focus on pulling you out of there and slamming the door."

"I think there might still be two ghosts in the pizzeria." she muttered. "Murderer and Phone Guy."

Mike closed his eyes tightly, licked his bottom lip, then let his jaw go slack. "Of course. I was wondering if that might happen." When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the rest of the group. "So, we still have ghosts. That's fun. One of them is possibly the murderer, the other is possibly Harvey? Even better."

Leaning forward, Michelle hit his arm. "Don't be an asshole. What, is sarcasm your first language or something?"

"Yes, actually." he grinned at her, then turned. "Where'd Brianna go?"

Chica turned away for a second, then tilted her head to the side and walked off. As they called after her, she didn't respond, simply kept walking out of the room.

Riley came rushing across the room, the bags of takeout in his hands and set them down before seizing Michelle in a tight hug. "Oh god, all I saw was Mike freaking out and handing me the bag of food that he was carrying and then he was running off across the room!" he pulled back from her, eyes wide and still slightly spooked. "And then everyone, including the animatronics, were all screaming your name and there was what looked like a locked door and you were not in sight and it was bad!"

Michelle smiled at him. "Breath, Rile, breathe. I'm okay."

"Found her!" Chica called out, coming back into the room with Brianna in her arms. The woman was unconscious, a bruise forming on her cheek. Aside from the obvious damage, she looked to be alright, and something in Michelle's chest loosened it's hold, allowing her to take a full breath. "She was laying in the hallway, I heard her make a noise."

Almost on cue, Brianna's eyes opened. "Michelle!"

"Not gonna get tired of everyone screaming my name anytime soon," the mechanic grinned at her friend, walking forward and helping Chica set her upright. "I'm fine, Bri. Just a little freaked." 

Every last one of them jumped at the sound of the office doors slamming open, Artem rushing out on shakey legs and grabbing Riley around the arm. "What the hell?" they whispered, burying their face in their boyfriend's shoulder. "What the hell."

Freddy looked back towards the office, then at the person that had come running out of it. "...Artem?" he asked quietly. "Are you alright?"

"There was a gold version of you, right there in front of me!" Artem explained, shaking their head. "I am going back in there eventually, but not right now, because what the fucking fuck was that?" they waved a hand at the office. "I could have sworn you guys should have heard me calling out for help, or even the doors closing in the first place!" they scrubbed a hand back through their hair, their breathing finally evening out. "The words 'It's Me' written all over in blood."

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't think that this is a simplified haunting."

"What do you think it is, then?" Michelle wrapped her arms around Brianna's waist, helping the woman stay upright. She turned to Artem. "And when did it first appear?"

"First appeared-" Artem cut themself off, frowning. "I think it was about fifteen minutes ago? Twenty, maybe?"

"So basically, when I first opened the backstage door." Michelle filled in the blanks, looking at Mike. "I think we may want to just leave the backstage area alone until we get some more stuff figured out. It seems like opening it triggered two attacks of the Goldie kind."

Freddy raised a hand. "Goldie?"

"Well, seeing as it's probably the murderer," Michelle shrugged. "I dunno, feels weird to call him by your name."

With a frown, Mike sighed. "How come you think there's two ghosts? Did you see two?" he shot a wary glance at the backstage door. "Or did one of them talk to you? What exactly happened in there?"

"An empty Bonnie suit jumped in the path of the Goldie one," Michelle made a face. "Based on the suit choice, the aggression towards the bear, and the fact that you mentioned he was one of the last to die here, I figured that it was Harvey. It seemed like the logical conclusion to make."

"Alright, let's just...Not be in this room right now." Mike gestured back towards the office. "Do we need to be in there, or the storage room with the crates?"

Artem laughed. "I am putting forth my vote for the crate room."

"Where Artem's choice lies, so go I." Riley followed with, picking the bags of takeout back up. "This is probably cold, so I am heading to the crate room. I'm assuming that Artem in going with me. We're going to eat in there."

Slowly, Chica still steadying Brianna, the entire group followed the two out of the room.

 

-_-_-_-_-_I_-T-_S_-_-M-_E_-_-_-_-_-

 

Sun shone brightly through the windows the next day, lighting up the entirety of the main dining area.

Despite the years of fear and darkness, it all seemed to be swept away in the light, the golden rays of the sun making it seem like the monsters had never been there in the first place. Wandering around the building, having taken over repairs and restoration once the humans had left, were the animatronics. Freddy directed the progress, his paws clutching carefully at a clipboard that had a list of tasks that needed doing before the restaurant could open up again. 

"F-freddy?" a voice asked, the crackling recording of a small child's voice catching the bear's attention. 

Looking down, Freddy smiled at Harris. "Yes?"

Harris held out an envelope. "M-m-m-my dad f-f-found this on the floor, n-n-n-n-n-next to the backstage door." he let out a bark, more static than anything else, and raised the plastic eyepatch off of his eye. "W-w-we th-thought it needed to g-g-go to you."

"Thank you," With a careful hand, Freddy took it from him, then patted him on the head. "Why don't y-you go help Chica, in the kitchen? That's a good b-boy."

Scampering off with another bark, Harris waved a goodbye over his shoulder as he went to find the animatronic chicken. Felix came in just as the pup left, a fond look on his face as he watched the little dog go. 

"We're doin' alright, aren't we?" he asked quietly, brushing a hand over his own arm and closing his eyes at the soft squeak. Instead of the fake fur that most of them had, Felix had the most obnoxiously reflective green rubber that Freddy had ever seen. "We got people on our side now." 

Freddy nodded. "We have a group of humans on our side. They're not going to let us be locked away in the dark if they can help it." he gestured back the way Felix had come. "Any luck finding the other versions of us?"

"Lil' bit," Felix spoke after a moment. He turned his head towards the back, tilting to the side as he thought. "Bit creepy to dig through boxes and find half completed heads and things. Found a version of myself," he paused. "Half built," another pause. "With no eyes." he shuddered, his eyes shuttering rapidly for a second. "Creepy pink spots on his cheeks like the rest o' you got when they made the child frien'ly versions."

Leaning forward, Freddy put a paw on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Startin' to be." Felix muttered. "Anyway, found a couple o' promisin' boxes. Found a couple o' ears and spare parts." he paused yet again, rubbing his fingers together. The small squeaking noises that that produced were enough to make him smile, a giggle coming out of his throat. "Think I need a break for a bit."

"Fair enough," Freddy gestured at the stage. "Only place out of the way right now. Go on, take a little bit of time and make yourself feel better."

Felix nodded, then leaned down and nudged the top of his head into Freddy's arm before walking off. Freddy watched him go, writing a note in careful handwriting on a spare page of paper on the clipboard. When Felix stood at the edge of the stage for a moment, just staring at it, Freddy almost walked over to help him onto it.

Instead, Isaac, the wolf animatronic, came bounding over to help him. Isaac flashed a toothy grin over his shoulder at Freddy, the hanging flap of fabric that revealed the gears in his left cheek making it creepier than it should have been.

"Are we alright?" Bonnie's voice made Freddy turn, a smile already on his face. The rabbit still wore the little black tophat that belonged to Freddy, a fact that made him even happier. "And, actually, i-is Felix alright?" they watched the frog being sat down on the stage, the wolf handling him gently. 

"There's a little mental deterioration that I've been noticing." Freddy shrugged, showing the rabbit his note. "I've w-written a note for Michelle, asking if she could take a look at it. It might be, simply, that he's been off for too long, or it might be that he took on some damage while he slept." Freddy leaned in closer to Bonnie. "What have y-y-you been noticing? Anything that needs fixing right away?"

"W-w-well," Bonnie began. "Edward's as grumpy as ever, but he's otherwise fi-fine. Currently, he's g-got Reyna on his shoulders, and she's still all screechy. But!" the rabbit announced happily, with a grand flourish of their hands. "Reyna is Mangle, and no-now Michelle knows that, so she can address her correctly!"

Freddy scribbled out another note, nodding with a happy hum, the first few bars of 'Toreador'. "Good. Anything worrying?"

"Other t-than Dota in a chair wi-with wheels and an excited Georgia pushing her around?" Bonnie shrugged. 

"...The two of them have a wheeled chair?" Freddy sighed. "Oh dear." he looked around, as if expecting the otter and the giraffe to come careening through the room at any moment. "If I stand here, am I in danger of being h-hit?"

Bonnie shook their head. "I-I don't t-t-think so." they smiled at him, one hand going up to tug at their bowtie. "Are things going well out here, other than Felix?"

"Yes," Freddy slotted the pen back into the top of the clipboard, then turned to face the rabbit all the way, feeling his internal temperature rising with no explanation. "I wanted to a-ask you-" he was cut off as the chair that Dota was riding in slammed into his back.

Georgia gasped, her hoof-like hands covering her mouth. Dota was already frantically scooting the chair backwards, her footless leg pushing against the floor. "Sorry b-b-b-b-boss!" she called out, a soft jingly sound flowing through the air as she turned her head. Around her neck, on a chain that Mike had bought specifically for it, was the key that had once belonged to Diana. With a moment of hesitation, Georgia grabbed the back of Dota's chair again, speeding off with the otter like they had never been there.

Of course, this left Freddy on the floor, laying on top of Bonnie.

"I'm s-sorry!" Freddy started levering himself off the top of the rabbit, trying to get his knees underneath himself. "Are you a-alright?"

"I'm fine!" Bonnie assured him, hands going to his chest and stomach, pushing upwards to try and help the bear to his feet. "Here- We s-s-s-seem to be at en-entirely the wrong angle for getting o-out of this, don't w-w-we?"

Dark grey arms wrapped around Freddy's chest and stomach, between Bonnie's hands. "Yeh two alright?" Isaac asked them, a grin in his voice as he hefted the bear off of the bunny. "Or did yeh want me ta leave ya where ya were lyin'?" he stood Freddy up, brushing his shoulders off. With that accomplished, he leaned down and took Bonnie's hands, helping them to their feet as well. 

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then at Isaac. "Is Felix still taking a break?" Freddy asked the wolf quietly. If he'd had the ability to, he would have been blushing a bright pink color.

"We're headin' back ta the crate room, boss!" Isaac saluted him hastily, then went running across the room to grab the frog before heading back. The two of them waved goodbye as they left, and Bonnie turned away from them, shaking their head. 

"The two of t-them have a-a-always been good friends." they remarked, a hand coming up to rub at the back of their head.

Freddy nodded, then retrieved his hat and the clipboard from where they had fallen on the ground. "They have, y-yes." he tapped his finger tips on the wood, jaw opening and closing minutely for a few moments. "Are we-"

This time, a knock cut off his words.

"Oh!" Bonnie turned towards the door, a happy noise in the back of their throat. "I'll go see who it is."

As soon as the rabbit had walked off, Freddy jammed his hat against his face as hard as he could, groaning into the heavily patched headwear. "Words. Why can't I words?" he set the now crumpled hat on his head, wandering out of the room to go talk to Foxy, where the captain was with his crew, restoring Pirate Cove.

 

At the door, Bonnie's jaw dropped as they watched a group of humans shivering slightly, each one standing by a crate.

"You are Bonnie, right?" the man at the front asked, eyes wide behind his glasses. "Michelle told her father to send the newest shipment of supplies here, and we were told to get either Freddy or Bonnie to make note of the delivery."

"I am B-bonnie," they assured the man. "Wha-"

"I did not say to have them make note of it." Michelle called out, slamming the door of her jeep and storming towards the building. "I said to have them call me." she took the delivery slip from the man, looking it over quickly and nodding. "Now, you guys need to bring this stuff inside and you need to do it now. Sooner it gets inside, sooner you get to go home."

"Hello Michelle!" Bonnie greeted the woman brightly. When she turned to them, she pulled them into a quick hug. "Is it c-cold out here?"

"It is for them." she explained. "C'mon, lets get out of the way so they can bring the boxes inside. I managed to track down the supplier of the original parts of you guys, so I can do temporary fixes, and I got my dad to send me more stuff to make new bodies for the rest of everyone."

The both of them went inside, Bonnie drooping slightly when they realized that Freddy wasn't in the room anymore. "Hey Michelle?" they asked her quietly, watching the group of people bringing in her stuff. 

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that Freddy l-l-likes me?" 

Michelle stopped, hands on her hips, in the middle of putting on her toolbelt. "I know he does. But what do you mean by that? I know he likes you as a member of his band, and as a part of the business."

Bonnie sighed, a crackle of noise in their speakers. "I m-mean in t-t-t-the same way R-riley likes Ar-Artem."

"You-" Michelle's mouth dropped into a perfect 'o' shape, almost immediately after changing into a warm smile. "I think so. From what I've seen, he's hanging around you more, he handed you his hat last night at some point, and you two are constantly hanging around each other. Despite being on friendly terms with all the others," she paused, took a deep breath, grinned. "He's never quite as attentive to them as he is to you."

"Do you really s-see that?" Bonnie asked quietly, ears stilled drooped to the side. "It doesn't s-s-s-seem like it."

With a soft click, Michelle finished arranging her belt on her hips, stepping closer to the rabbit. Her grin morphed into something softer as she reached both of her hands up to Bonnie's face, holding their cheeks gently. "I see him watching you all the time, I see him following after you, I see him putting his hat on your head." she went up on her toes to plant a kiss on Bonnie's nose, making the animatronic dip down slightly when she couldn't reach on her own. "I think I can be pretty confident in saying that he, at the very least, likes you more than he likes the others."

She took a step back, running a hand through her hair. "Now, I am going to go help with the mechanics of Pirate Cove. Foxy was telling me that there's a few glitches here and there that shouldn't be happening. With luck, it'll be a couple of minutes to fix it."

"Oh!" Bonnie spoke up before she could leave. "Freddy has a clipboard, there's notes about differences in behavior from some of the others." they shrugged. "I'm going to go help out in the crate room. Felix and Isaac probably could use an extra hand." They trudged off, their mood somewhere between crestfallen and excited.

Michelle sighed, then walked into Pirate Cove, aiming directly for Freddy. Behind her, she heard the door closing as the last of the delivery people left. 

"Freddy?"

The bear turned to look at her, clipboard in hand as he made notes. "Michelle. Is there something I can help you with?" he looked back towards the group he was overseeing when he heard a bit of a crashing noise. When he saw that Bernard had dropped a piece of the set on accident, he turned back to her. "Is everything alright?"

"I wanted to know what you think of Bonnie." she asked him, arms crossed over her chest. "All of what you think of them."

Freddy was silent for a moment, looking towards the door. When he didn't see the bunny in the other room, he hid his face behind the clipboard. "I think a lot of them." he tried quietly, almost like he hoped she wouldn't hear him.

"How so?"

The namesake of the restaurant peeked out from behind his makeshift shield to peer at her. "I think about them a l-lot?" he tried again, voice still quiet. "Not sure w-what you want from me. What answer are you looking for?" 

"Just the truth." Michelle shook her head, a fond look on her face. "I want to know if you like Bonnie the same way Artem likes Riley."

Looking around for an escape, Freddy hunched over, his shoulders doing a fairly decent job of hiding his face from her in combination with the clipboard. "It could be that that's- I mean- That is to say-" he groaned, slapping a hand over his face, reaching up to drag his hat down and jam his nose into it. Michelle raised an eyebrow at the crumpled state of the hat, her hands going to her hips. 

"If they showed affection of that sort towards you, would you reciprocate?" 

Freddy's eyes snapped open, and he froze with the hat covering part of his face. "What?" he stuttered, voice box skipping and looping for a moment. "Yes. Yes? Yes."

"No wonder you guys are so grumpy sometimes." Michelle bit the inside of her lip. "You're in entirely the wrong bodies to have the sort of relationship you want." she gestured at Freddy's body, frowning. "It's hard to hug and hold onto people in these ones."

With that, she walked over to Foxy, ignoring the embarrassed bear animatronic she left behind.

 

-_-_-S-_-A-_-V-_-E-_-T-_-H-_-E-_-M-_-_-

 

Several hours later, with the rest of the group there, Michelle sitting in the corner and working on schematics for the new bodies she was building, Artem cleared their throat.

"Artem? What's up?" Michelle looked up from her drawing, pencil held tightly in her hand. 

They grinned, gesturing around themself. "I just wanted to say, it's kind of amazing that we're here. I mean, think about it. Mike survived the ghost children wanting him dead, we all survived Orsani, there's animatronics running around that haven't seen the light of day for almost twenty years, sometimes more." They laughed. "It just seems like it should be impossible."

With a nod, Brianna made a face. "Yeah. This does seem- I don't know, I never really expected the dead end job i got in a fit of needing something to do with my resume and all at once trying to figure out the mystery of this place to end up here." 

"I was just bored with my life." Michelle shrugged, setting her drawing down and stretching out her back. "You're right, it's pretty damn close to impossible, but here we are." she took a deep breath, looking at Mike. "I had to do something with my life, so I chose a place to work that would give me access to working with robotics every day. Why'd you end up here?"

"Heh..." Mike scratched at his cheek, looking over the repair notes that Freddy had handed to him. "I took this job because it was the only one I could get. I was in desperate need of rent, and despite being crappy and paying less than minimum wage, it made life easier for me to work here. I have another job, and the two paychecks combined makes me able to actually live somewhere."

Riley waved towards Mike. "That about sums up my reasons too. Rent went up, needed more money to actually survive."

"Landlords suck sometimes." Mike lamented. "Hey, Michelle?"

"Yeah?"

"Freddy wrote something here about one of the lights on the mainstage giving off sparks." Mike raised the clipboard. "Is that something you can handle, or are you too busy with other things?"

Michelle snorted. "I have time. Don't even think about outsourcing now, you've got me fully committed, this place is now my special baby." she grinned at him. "Okay? Seriously, new special baby. Need to make sure that everything is okay with it." she looked towards the stage. "I will, however, get to it as soon as possible, because sparks are dangerous, especially to those of us with human flesh."

Nodding, Mike wrote something on the page he was looking at. "Thank you."

"See, we may still be getting crappy wages here," Brianna began, "But now we know that there's room for getting better ones in the future, and we have a boss that actually cares about us."

"...When did I become the boss of you guys?" Mike asked, an eyebrow raised so high that it was in danger of being consumed by his hair. "When did that happen?"

"When you became manager." Riley informed him, grinning. 

Artem laughed again. "When you made the decision to try and rescue this place, then got our help and showed leadership qualities."

"When you showed care for the animatronics beyond what money they could make you." Michelle added. "Seriously, Orsani acted like they were never anything but money machines, and when they stopped working, he got so angry and started leaving them to rust."

"When you told me that there were ghosts, and that my mom had a very good reason to be afraid of Orsani and Fitzgerald in the first place." Brianna added quietly. "We all have very different reasons for it, but you are the new boss. Better get used to it, new guy." she smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You're in charge here, and no one else would be happier to be in that position."

Mike blushed a little at that, rubbing slowly at the back of his neck. "Well, I just...I want this place to be good again. The disappearance and death of twenty children kind of destroys a place, and I want this to be good for people to come back to."

"And that is why we're going to be calling you our boss." Michelle said, the bright grin on her face almost marring the softness of her words.

Brianna smiled as well. "You've proven that my mom, even with how her mind is going, was right all along about two people who terrified her." she sighed. "Early onset Alzheimer's. She's not even in her fifties and she's already losing things. Some days, all she has are the memories of working here, and the fact that Orsani was a creep."

"Validation." Artem spoke up again. "Powerful thing. Have you told her that?"

"I've mentioned it to her." she shrugged. "My mom was excited, because that was a day that she was more lucid, and I mentioned that Orsani was gone and the investigations were being opened back up."

Mike smiled at that, clutching the clipboard to his chest. "Does anyone else hear that?" he asked suddenly, smile dropping off of his face. "It sounds like wind."

Instantly, Brianna was looking at him. "Mike, don't listen to it."

"No, seriously, does anyone else hear it?" Mike looked around the room, then frowned. "Wha-" he cut off, jaw going slack.

"Damn it, Mike!" Brianna hissed, watching him carefully. Mike wandered out of the room as if he didn't know how to use his own body, arms limp at his sides. "Where the hell is he going?"

"Mike?" Artem called out as well. "Mi- Holy shit."

At their words, everyone turned. The walls were covered, every inch of them, in words spelled out in blood. Michelle started shaking, eyes wide as she backed away. "No." she whispered.

Over and over again, the words spelled out, "IT'S ME."

"Oh no, no no no no." Michelle moaned quietly, eyes going even wider as Mike walked back into the room, something in his hand catching the light. "Mike?" she covered her mouth with her hands as she realized where he was heading.

Mike walked, with single minded purpose, towards the backstage door, the key in his hand gleaming dangerously in the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonnie and Freddy decided to be dorks in love. I'll roll with it.
> 
> As for Mike...Oh dear. Poor Mike, you're not going to like what happens to you.
> 
> Tell me what you think of the story in the comments?


	9. Let's Strike Up The Band

"Mike?" Brianna called, eyes wide as she grabbed onto Michelle's shoulder. "Mike? No, Mike, don't- Mike!"

The man ignored her, walking continuously towards the backstage door, the key in his hand. When he got within a few inches of the door, Mike pressed the key into the lock, pausing to smear a hand through the blood on the wall. After a few seconds of wiping away Golden Freddy's greeting, he turned back to the door, turning the key and opening it. 

Immediately, Golden Freddy and the empty Bonnie suit came tumbling out, the two of them falling over and over as they tried to gain the upper hand in their fight. On their way out the door, one of them grabbed Mike, who, apparently free of the possession that had gotten him to open the door in the first place, started spitting out fragmented sentences as he tried to avoid the murderous hands of the golden bear.

The three of them came to a halt in the middle of the floor, Golden Freddy's hands wrapped around Mike's neck, the Bonnie suit doing it's best to haul the bear off of the man. 

Despite the best effort's of the rabbit suit, Goldie was still managing to slam Mike's head against the floor. Each strike drew forth a grunt of pain from Mike, and it was only because Freddy caught hold of him that Foxy didn't insert himself into the fight. Squirming against the namesake's grip, Foxy snarled, the harsh shrieking noise that most of the humans in the room remembered as dangerous echoing from his chest.

"MIKE!" Brianna shrieked, eyes wide as she watched the man go completely still.

Michelle watched in horror, Mike's eyes rolling up in his head, his face going a disturbingly pale color that was a stark contrast to his normally darker skin. "...Mike?" she whispered, leaning forward cautiously out of the protective cave that Brianna's arms formed around her. 

 

On the floor, barely breathing, Mike tried to move his hands, a vision blooming behind his eyelids. The scene he was suddenly part of was the changing room in what was now the backstage, two young men stripping out of their street clothes and slowly pulling on the costumes they had been paid to wear.

_'You could have just stopped.' One of them chided the other, a fist sized bruise on his hip. 'You didn't have to egg them on.'_

_The taller of the two brushed a hand back through his hair, looking barely contrite. 'I have to make it seem like we hate each other, don't I? You've heard the reports, you know what happens to boys like us. I hate the idea of you being carted off.' he leaned closer to the other boy. 'C'mon Harv, you know I don't mean it.'_

_'Jeremy!' the boy called Harv hissed at him, pushing him back with a hand on his shoulder. 'We get caught in here, we not only get carted off, but we lose our jobs and everyone knows.'_

_Jeremy laughed, and Mike's stomach dropped._

_'We won't get caught.' he whispered to the shorter man, pressing a soft kiss to the colomn of his neck, pulling him closer until he could kiss him full on the mouth. Harv tried to pull back from him at first, then sighed and wrapped an arm around the taller male's neck, drawing him in._

The feeling of hands on his chest brought Mike back into the real world, chest heaving as he tried to get enough air in his lungs to function again. "What-" he broke off, coughing violently, throat sore and hard to speak through.

"Mike!" Michelle squeaked, her arms going around his shoulders in a tight hug. On the floor, several feet from them, Golden Freddy was pinned to the ground by the weight of three other animatronics. When Isaac realized that he was being observed, he flipped off a jaunty salute. Next to him, Foxy sighed, jamming his knee further into the bear's mouth. Frieda was sitting on his feet, humming quietly to herself.

The empty Bonnie suit was kneeling in front of them, head tilted to the side as empty eye sockets observed them. 

With another hoarse cough, Mike nodded at it. "You're Harvey."

It nodded.

"The memory I just got hit with. It's you and Jeremy."

Another nod.

Mike rubbed at his eyes. "You two were together, in the sixties, and it ended badly when the suspicions first started about the missing kids."

A long moment passed before the suit nodded again. The suit went still, Harvey appearing outside of it. "That's about the long and short of it, kid." he whispered. "Jeremy wasn't- Things went wrong. I didn't know until much later that he'd murdered them."

Unlike Diana, Harvey was immediately see-through, but his eyes were exactly like hers had been. The combination of eerie red and hollow black still made Mike nervous, even if it was the ghost of someone as mild as Harvey Gersh. "Well, there's a secret you kept till the grave." Mike muttered. 

"Ghost jokes, ha ha ha." Harvey raised an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did Diana stand you making them?"

"I really don't kn- Oh!" Mike grunted as he was slammed to the side, away from Michelle. For a moment, it felt like he'd come to an awkward halt, but then he was rolling again, end over end, until he hit a wall. 

"Thank you," a menacing voice came from above him, claw-like hands wrapping around Mike's throat as Jeremy resumed his attempt on the man's life. "For reminding me about moving around outside of the suit, Harv. Very kind of you." Jeremy's eyes, unlike the other ghost's, were purely black.

Mike choked on his next breath, grabbing the man's wrists as tightly as he could in an attempt to pull them off. "Get off of me!" he hissed, kicking upwards and forcing them back into a roll. When they stopped, Mike was on top, and he glanced a fist off the top of Jeremy's head. 

Unexpectedly, Jeremy started laughing, his hands dropping to the floor above his head. "You honestly don't get it, do you?" he laughed again, a ghostly echo of the noise that Freddy usually made. "Look to the side, nightwatch." he grinned, his canine teeth unusually sharp in his mouth. "You're gonna wanna see this."

Still holding onto the ghost's wrists, Mike looked over at Michelle. 

On the floor, next to her, was his own body. 

"...What-" Mike's jaw dropped, Jeremy's laughter filling the room now. "How- I'm not dead!" he rounded on Jeremy again, jamming his palm into the ghost's throat. The laughter finally ceased, and Mike jumped away from him as Jeremy curled up in pain. 

"You- heh..." Jeremy coughed. "You may not be dead, you may never have been dead. But I was there. A desperate little ghost girl jammed you back into your body without any regard to what it might do to you. Your head was bleeding, it was a 'Miracle' that you lived after what Foxy did to you." he coughed again, a disturbing smile on his face. "Flesh accepted the living ghost inside of it, you kept growing, no one questioned it when you just kept living."

He turned to look at the corpse on the floor, both of his eye brows raised. "Race you, nightwatch."

Before Jeremy could make it to Mike's body, however, Harvey jumped on him, a knee in the middle of his neck. "Go, Mike!" he waved him away. "You need to get back inside your body before he gets away from me, I know for a fact that he's the stronger of the two of us!"

"Flesh only keeps for so long!" Jeremy cackled, barely even fighting against Harvey's hold on him. "You might find that things are different than what you remember!"

A hook connected with Mike's arm, hurriedly drawing him back to his body.

When he made contact with it, his vision spinning, Mike blacked out, the sound of the rest of the guards calling his name in horrified voices.

 

-_-_-Y-_-O-_-U-_-C-_-A-_-N-_-T-_-_-

 

After what felt likes ages, Mike could move again, his fingers twitching. It hurt, but that just reassured him that he was alive.  
"-think he'll wake up?"

"God, I hope so." someone muttered. "I really don't want him to be dead."

"I think he might already be dead, Artem!" someone else hissed, panic and fear edging their voice. A few seconds passed, and then that voice spoke again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't- I really shouldn't yell." 

"Guys," a third voice joined in. "He's moving his hands." An almost searing heat pressed against his forehead. "Mike? Can you hear me?" the heat moved to his neck, pressing into where his pulse should have been. "I- Mike?" they stopped talking, stopped moving, as they felt for a pulse. "I can't find a pulse. Artem, you're better at this than I am, you try."

A different heat pressed against him now, and an electronic whining noise filled the room. "I can't find one either." the one called Artem reported.

"Here," came an almost raspy voice, a stuttering static sound the background of the words. "Let this ol' Cap'n try somethin'" was all the warning he got before something ice cold pressed against his stomach. 

With a gasp, Mike sat bolt upright, gasping for air as he put a hand to his chest. "Holy shit, Foxy don't do that!" he hissed the words out, doubling over as he continued to breathe. 

Michelle put a hand on his shoulder, her eyes wide in something that seemed to be a mixture of fear and worry. "Mike, you were fucking unconscious for nearly half an hour, without a pulse to be found, and you weren't breathing. If Foxy wants to press his hook against you and wake you up, I am all for it!"

He stared at her, the mechanic glaring him down until he nodded meekly. 

"Is he awake now?" Freddy asked, striding across the room with heavy steps, his hat in his hands. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah." Mike waved the bear off, looking down at his hand. The tips of his fingers were blue, and he could see faint black lines where his veins should have been. "What happened to me? Did you see the fight?"

"Yes, we saw the fight." Brianna leaned forward, reaching for his neck again. This time, she nodded in satisfaction. "Found a pulse this time. It's kind of unsteady, but it's there."

Artem sighed, running a hand down their face. "Alright Boss, what the hell?"

"I don't think I was supposed to survive..." Mike muttered, shrugging. "Jeremy mentioned something about being there. My heart never stopped, my brain never- I never actually died!" he snarled, clenching his hands into fists, one reaching up to cup the spot that had been removed once upon a time. "I'm not sure, but he might have messed with Foxy's gears, made it happen."

"...Made what happen, Lad?" the animatronic was still kneeling next to him, arm extending partially. As if he were going to wrap the man in a hug, he leaned even closer. "What are yeh talkin' about?"

Mike's jaw dropped open slightly, his words stuttering to a halt. "You bit me." the hand that was on his head moved to reveal the scar, almost of it's own will. With a nervous gesture from his right hand, Mike looked up to meet the captain's eyes. "I was the kid you fell on."

Foxy went completely still for a moment, as if he were mimicking the earlier state of the man in front of him. A few seconds passed, and then the fox was leaping backwards. "No, I-" he scrambled to his feet, the worn through fabric on his legs swaying with the movements. "I never meant ta hurt yeh." he whispered miserably. 

Before anyone else could move, Foxy turned on his toes, hurtling towards Pirate Cove and disappearing behind the curtains. 

With an aborted movement, almost like he was going to follow, Mike made a noise in the back of his throat. A heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, pinning him in place. "You should probably sit still." Freddy told him quietly. "I'll g-get one of the others to check on him later. I think he needs time alone right now."

Brianna cleared her throat. "This kind of explains...Everything. About Mike, about his need to be here."

"Why does it explain that?" Riley piped up for the first time, eyes almost the size of plates still. "The ghost thing really just makes everything more confusing. What are you talking about?"

"I just mean-" she cut herself off, glancing back at Mike. "Ghosts haunt the place they died in. Mike almost died here, and then, from what I could gather of the conversation, the ghost he was talking to when the rest still wanted us all dead shoved him back into his body and kept him alive." she shrugged, slumped sideways until she was against Michelle's side. "Living ghost. It tied him to this place, made him locked into the whole 'must go back, must be there' thing he's got going for him."

Michelle wrapped her arms around Brianna. "It kind of does make sense."

"Oh, that's just..." Artem pressed their fingers into their eyes, rubbing gently to try and ease off the stress headache they could feel coming. "That's just wonderful."

"Her name was Diana." Mike corrected quietly, nodding at Brianna. "And I have an idea for when we get this place up and running again." he paused, looked at a spot on the floor several feet away. "If we're still going to do that."

"I want to." Brianna nodded back, smiling at him. "If you're just going to keep coming back here, then you need a place to come back to. I kind of hate the idea of you coming back to a pile of rubble and sleeping in it." she held out a hand to him, dragging him closer when he took it. "We're not leaving your dumb ass now. Too invested."

Michelle laughed. "Here here!"

"Myself as well." Artem muttered, still pressing their fingers into their eye sockets. "Riley?"

Riley peeled himself off of the wall, pulling a small bottle out of his pocket, sitting down next to his partner. "Might as well." he offered Artem two small white pills. "Here, I snagged the small bottle you keep in your bag."

"So Mike here is a living ghost," Brianna looked at Artem. "You?"

"Headaches." they rubbed at their forehead, dry-swallowing the pills. "Riley is the sweetest, and has decided to be my walking pill minder when he has the chance." Artem grinned at their boyfriend, twining their fingers together. 

"Riley? Anything we should know about you?" Brianna pressed onward, an arm curled tightly around Michelle's waist. 

Riley shrugged. "I'm missing a couple of toes, and I have double jointed fingers? Dunno what you're looking for here." he grinned. "We've worked together for three years now, you know what's up with me."

"True." Brianna turned to Mike. "Hey, it would help if you paid attention." she reminded him. 

"Sorry," Mike muttered, still looking toward Pirate Cove. "I want to go talk to him." he looked up at Freddy. "Would you be okay with it if I didn't walk myself over there?"

The bear thought about it for a moment, then scooped him up carefully. "If you're going to do the unintelligent thing regarding your own health, then you're going to consent to being carried most places." he growled, the words still gentle enough that it only sounded worried instead of angry.

"I can do that." Mike hugged the bear's neck. "Thank you."

The two of them headed for Pirate Cove, Freddy's hands pressing almost desperately against the human in his arms, as if that alone could keep Mike safe. 

Behind the purple curtain with faded golden stars, Freddy looked around in the darkness for the telltale shape of the pirate captain. Taking a few steps into the room, his eyes lighting the way, Freddy sighed. "Foxy?"

"'M here." the fox answered miserably, his voice coming from almost directly back. 

With a nod, Freddy walked through the room, managing to avoid the piles of stuff that would have tripped anyone else up, and stood next to the pirate. "Are you alright?" Freddy asked quietly, gesturing for Mike to be quiet. 

"I almost killed 'im." Foxy whimpered, his one hand clutching tightly at his tattered ear. "I didn't mean ta, but it happened and I can't jus'-" he broke off with what sounded like a sob. "I'm a good fox. I didn't mean ta hurt him. I was tryin' ta apologize fer fallin' on him." he whimpered again, his hook wrapping around the exposed endoskeleton of his leg. "He was jus' a little lad, and I nearly killed 'im."

"He's still alive." Freddy reminded him, a hand over Mike's mouth. "I know f-for a fact that he doesn't blame you."

Mike made a face at Freddy, almost crying out in relief when the bear set him on the ground. 

"How do yeh know?" Foxy curled even further into himself, the shredded remains of his tail poking out from behind him with the movement. "How could anyone not blame me fer that? I took a chunk out o' his head."

Freddy gestured for Mike to talk this time, helping the man sit on the floor.

"I have never blamed you for that." Mike began, his words soft so that he wouldn't startle the captain. "Not even when I didn't know that there was the corpse of a small child inside your suit. And now, now that I know that, I can't even think about blaming anyone but Jeremy and the people involved who refused to give your suit up to the police."

Foxy watched him, the only point of reference that Mike had in the darkness his eyes. "Lad..."

"I don't blame you." Mike shrugged, smiling now. "I've always had a favorite out of the four that I knew of, and with no offense meant to Freddy, it wasn't him." he sighed, swiping a hand up into his hair. "My head healed. I had a difficult few years, and I still have some trouble with things, but I'm alright."

Carefully, setting one hand down on the floor in front of him so that he wouldn't fall over, Mike leaned forward, wrapping his free arm around Foxy's neck and pulling him into a tight hug. 

After a few moments of the two of them not moving, Foxy's arm came up and wrapped around Mike's waist. "Thank yeh, lad." he pushed gently at the man's shoulder so that he could see his face. "Careful o' the sharp edges, mate. Cap'n Foxy's still got all o' those." 

"Fairly certain I wouldn't have it any other way."

Freddy made a noise like he was clearing his throat. "Now. Foxy, he needs to not walk on his own for a little while, until we're sure that he's alright. Can I trust you with that?"

"O' course!" Foxy agreed quickly, teeth shining in the little bit of light from the bear's eyes as Mike groaned in resignation. "Don't want the lad to get hurt." Even though he said the words lightheartedly, there was a measure of seriousness behind them that implied something protective in the animatronic's personality.

With a laugh, Freddy waved. "Alright, I am going to check on Bonnie and the rest, make sure that everyone's alright."

"Right," Mike grinned at the bear's retreating footsteps. "Checking on Bonnie specifically, or actually checking on everyone?" he laughed when the footsteps stopped entirely, and the bear's eyes reappeared in the dark. 

Freddy made a discontented noise. "Mike, I am sorry, this is one of the few, probably only times, that I will ever do this." his eyes began flickering, the music box in his chest winding up slowly, the first strains of 'Toreador' playing in the darkness. "We're not...Bonnie- They deserve none of the ridicule that might be implied with your words. They deserve nothing but respect and kindness."

"And you need to tell them that!" Mike shot back in the darkness, scooting closer to Foxy, instinctive fear welling up in his chest. "Because maybe, just maybe, you could be happy with them instead of sitting off to the side and feeling alone constantly! The two of you both do the same thing, and it makes me so sad to see it because despite everything else being repaired and made new and made better about this place, you two are still feeling completely alone."

The music died out, leaving them in silence.

Eventually, Freddy spoke again. "I don't think that they'd ever feel that way about me."

"You're kidding me, right?" Mike laughed again, a hint of nerves to it this time. "Bonnie's crazy about you. Seriously, just go talk to them. Do the awkward flirting thing, maybe figure out how to kiss in the animatronic shapes before Michelle switches you over to humanoid ones and makes you have to relearn everything."

A rapid clicking sound made Mike pause, then smile. "You're going over your memories of them talking to you, aren't you? Trying to see if there's possibly something that you missed about Bonnie's behavior that would tell you whether or not I'm right."  
Instead of answering, Freddy's footsteps went quickly towards the exit, leaving the two of them alone on the floor of Pirate Cove.

Next to Mike, Foxy started laughing. "I was wonderin' if I would have ta be the one ta tell 'im." Foxy paused, then moved closer to Mike. "Gonna pick yeh up now, lad. Figure we should be out in the light, where yeh can see too."

When Mike nodded, Foxy scooped him up, his hook under Mike's knees and his other arm behind the man's back. "Sorry fer not bein' too comfy," Foxy muttered as he walked towards the exit. "Me paddin' ain't what it used ta be."

"Eh," with a shrug, Mike put an arm around Foxy's neck. "I don't mind. You're the captain."

"Did yeh really mean that, a-a-about havin' a favorite o' us?" Foxy looked down at Mike's face as they passed through the curtain. "Or was that jus' ta reassure me?"

"I meant it." Mike grinned up at him. 

 

~_~S~_~T~_~A~_~R~_~T~_~_~A~_~G~_~A~_~I~_~N~_~

 

"Alright." Michelle looked at the computer on the table, then at the animatronic she currently had plugged into it. "All we're going to do is transfer you over, one body to another. I got the tech from my dad, he swears that it's all ready to be used for things like this." she clicked a few things, typed something, then nodded. "It started out as a data transfer program, something to auto-file information on the various projects that he's doing. He realized that it could be used to transfer sentience, so he sent it to me to help with this. Any questions?"

Dota shook her head. "Just- Do it quickly?"

"Gotcha." Michelle nodded again, hitting the button that would start the process. "Just a few minutes, and then you can be learning how to walk in a human shape."

As the files transferred over, Dota's entire personality flashing out across the screen, Michelle bit her bottom lip. Next to her, Brianna was leaning against the wall. "Are you sure it's not going to wipe her out?"

"Yeah." Michelle grinned at her. "My dad uses this exact software and process everyday, helps sentient mechanic beings transfer into new bodies that help them look more human. Android bodies are rising in popularity every day, why shouldn't they get their own?" she licked at the spot she had bitten, looking over at the other woman. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering where the sentience even came from." Brianna shrugged, watched as the progress bar inched closer to the finish line. 

"Ghosts in the machine." Michelle gave her a look like a satisfied cat with a trapped mouse. "Random segments of code. Unexpected protocal." she laughed, making a face. "I mean, seriously, no one quite knows where sentient machines come from. All I really know is that we have a group of people who are stuck in the wrong kinds of bodies. And that it's my job to make it better."

The computer beeped cheerily, and Michelle hummed in return, sliding her fingers over a few keys. "Dota?"

The more human looking of the two robots sat up abruptly. "Michelle?" the android girl looked around the room. "This is..." she trailed off, lifting her hands up to her face and flexing her fingers. "I have fingers! Five of them!" she shrieked in delight, grinning. "And I can move my mouth!" 

That announcement was followed by Dota making faces, many of which were unflattering and strange to look at.

Brianna choked on her laughter, snorting a couple of times and trying to breathe through it. "Oh my god, I wish I had that on camera!" she laughed again, stepping closer as Michelle hurried over to the android and began testing her reflexes.

"How does this feel?" Michelle asked quietly, moving the girl's feet and ankles. "Any strange tense bits, any grinding?"

"No, it feels good." she pulled her foot away from Michelle, moving it on her own. "Yeah, definitely feels good." Looking down at her chest, however, she frowned. "They look weird." she poked one of her breasts, jiggling it up and down slowly. "Ooooh!" she made an appreciative noise. "It's soft."

That set Brianna off again, and Chica came running into the room, followed closely by Georgia. "Is she alright?" 

Dota waved at them, then got distracted by the soft peach-fuzz hair on her arm. "I can smell things." she whispered, wonder in her voice. "Georgia! Georgia! Come here!" When the giraffe complied, Dota wrapped both of her arms around her. "This is so neat!" she giggled.

Pulling out a pen, Michelle jotted down a note. "So it looks like we should warn the others of sensory overload that might happen when they first transfer over to the new bodies..."

"Key!" Dota suddenly shrieked, panic in her voice now. "Girl's key, need it! Need it!"

Michelle turned on her heel, removing it carefully from Dota's otter body and clasping it around her new neck. "There. You have it now."

With a relieved sigh, Dota wrapped her hands around it, clasping it tightly against her chest. Her eyes closed, and for the first time in her entire existence, Dota the Otter breathed. "Why am I breathing?" she asked quietly, eyes still closed. 

"It's a vent system, it'll help keep you from overheating." Michelle held a hand in front of her mouth, nodding happily when it felt like normal breath. "If it starts getting too warm, and your skin starts heating up, you come straight to me, alright?" she brushed the former-otter's hair out of her face. "So are you still sure about looking like an older version of her?"

"Yes." Dota whispered. "I don't want to forget what she looked like. I couldn't save her, but I can keep her memory alive." she opened her eyes, the color of them the same deep blue that the ghost girl's had been when she was alive. 

Brianna walked over, put a hand on the other two animatronic's shoulders. "Are you guys going next?"  
With a nod, Georgia looked at Michelle. "May I?"

"Yeah, just help me get Dota's old body off the table, and then we can get you done as well." Michelle turned to walk over to the table, only for Georgia to pull the body off by herself, setting it carefully against the wall. "I was thinking about using the storage room to put them to rest in. It feels wrong to just trash them, and it'd be awful to turn them into scrap."

Chica shook her head. "When you transfer me, b-burn it."

Michelle looked like she was going to protest, but Chica shook her head. "There's blood stains on it, I did things in it that I would like to never remember, and I really want to not have to have the chance of running into it. Burn it."

With a nod, Michelle helped Georgia sit on the table, then turned to Dota, pulling out a chair to the side. "Can you walk to here, or do you need help?"

"I think I can." Dota slipped off the table, landing softly on her new feet. A few moments of flexing her toes passed quietly, a delighted smile on her face. With that done, she took careful steps to the chair, twirling on the balls of her feet and sitting down in it. "Walking is weird now. Have to counter balance."

Chica patted her head, turning to Georgia, looking at Michelle. "I think that you might want to ask Freddy, Bonnie and Foxy if they want theirs burned as well. You're probably going to get a yes on that."

With a small nod, Michelle started up the program again, watching over Georgia carefully. "I would imagine." she whispered.

 

Since the sentience transfer took less than twenty minutes for each animatronic, Michelle had worked her way through most of the cast in one afternoon.

At one point, she called Freddy and Bonnie in. "Would you two mind taking their bodies back to the storage room? Leave Chica's here, she wants it destroyed, but the original bodies are going to be stored." she brushed hair out of her face, watching the screen that currently had Isaac's personality flashing across it.

"Sure!" Bonnie laughed, reaching back and taking Freddy's hand in their own. "Come on Freddy!"

Freddy followed along quietly, a soft humming noise coming from his chest. "Have you got Bonnie's body made yet?" he asked as he shouldered one of the empty bodies. "And if you do, have you made sure that it suits them?"

"Of course she did, Freddy." Bonnie laughed softly. "She knows that- She had me looking over her shoulder as she designed it." They had the empty body that had belonged to Bernard at one point on one shoulder, Harris's on the other. "I know she did the same for you. Why would you think that she wouldn't do the same for me?"

They walked out of the room after saying that, leaving Freddy behind.

"I just want to make sure that the world knows Bonnie's preference for-" Freddy shook his head. "Is there a word for it?"

"I believe it's Agender." Michelle filled in, watching as the progress bar filled completely. When it was done, she went over to check on Isaac, helping the wolf upright and moving his joints with him. "There's also Non-Binary, genderless, and a lot of other things." She grinned at him, then guided Isaac to the chair off to the side. "You're going to have a human looking band in just a bit."

Freddy nodded, then re-adjusted the empty shell on his shoulder, walking off without another word.

Meeting him in the doorway was Foxy, helping Felix walk into the room. "Ya wanted ta see him next, right lass?" He gestured at Felix, the frog looking almost vacantly off to the side. "'M afraid he's not in the best o' shape. The years in the dark seem ta have wrecked somethin'."

Waving them into the room, Michelle patted the table next to Isaac's empty shell, managing to scoot it out of the way. "I did, yeah. I figure that, since these two are really good friends, Isaac would be good to have in the room while Felix is being transferred over. It'll make it less nerve wracking to be there for him, right Isaac?"

"Yeah." Isaac looked up from his hands, eyes wide and almost afraid to be hopeful. "I want ta be here ta make sure that he's gonna be okay."

"Michelle is good." Felix muttered, head tilting to the side.

Taking a few cautious steps away from the chair, Isaac stopped, then nodded. "I know she is." he shrugged. "But I'm worried about ya, and nothin' ya say is gonna make that stop happenin'. I will always worry about yeh."

Felix giggled.

Helping the frog sit on the bed, she left him upright. "I need to do a few diagnostic things first, and it'll take longer than the rest." she explained as she plugged him in, gentle hands running over the bright green material that made up his skin. By the time she had Felix up on the screen, Freddy and Bonnie were back in the room, pulling more of the empty ones out.

"Is-" Freddy stopped at the screen, behind her shoulder. "Is Felix alright?"

Michelle frowned, entering a new folder in the frog's files. "I really don't know. It looks like someone went in and actually messed with his programming. It looks like they might have..." she trailed off, her eyes going wide and disgust twisting her face. "Who the hell installs a virus on a sentient animatronic?" she hissed, eyes narrowing at the screen. "Especially one that bogs down the programming!"

Isaac came scurrying around the computer, looking at the screen as well. "What?"

"Someone installed a virus!" she waved at the screen. "It's slowing down his programming and his personality, to the point of that 'he might as well just be a basic robot' bullshit!" she minimized the screen, double clicking on something else and clicking a button on screen that said 'Start' next to the words 'Full System Scan'. "Uh-uh, not happening!" she snarled at the screen.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Isaac interrupted, a shaking hand on her shoulder. With a glance at the frog, he whined in the back of his throat. "Is Felix gonna be okay?"

Michelle hesitated, looking at the screen again. "I hope so." she whispered, then tapped the screen to bring his attention to it. "This is an anti-virus software that I trust. It'll help track down exactly which files are effected, and then it'll tell me what can be done without damaging what's there. We just have to hope that it'll be a good outcome."

Looking at the frog, Isaac nodded. "I'm gonna sit with him." he whispered, already walking towards the table and Felix.

Freddy watched the screen. "Are you going to transfer him after it's cleaned up, or do it as soon as you get a moment?" he set the empty body down. "I'll help move the new body for you, the one he's going into."

"That would be awesome, thank you." Michelle ran a hand down her face. "And I will only transfer him once I know that he's going to be okay. From what I can tell, it's a nasty virus, one that's breaking down his sentience and making him- It's trying to turn him into an empty shell with a name and basic programming." she sighed, cracked her knuckles, then nodded. "And I want to make damn sure that he's not going to cycle into what equates to death for you guys."

With a low electronic whine, Foxy pushed himself off the frame of the door, hook clenched in the ruined fingers of his other hand. 

"Michelle?" Mike's voice echoed through the hall, the man appearing after just a second. Instead of coming further into the room, where there would have been more space for him to stand, he hung back at the door. With a brief flick of his eyes to the pirate next to him, he looked at the mechanic. "Is everything alright?"

Michelle gestured at the screen. "Some dumbfuck installed a virus on Felix."

"...What." Mike frowned, walking over to look at the screen. "Seriously, what?" glaring, as if he could make the facts change with an angry stare, he blinked a couple of times. "Who does that? And why?"

On the bed, Felix sat bolt upright, a faint squeak coming from the ensuing rub of his hand against his knee. "Hey!" he shouted, eyes wide and mouth dropping open. "Hey, no!"

With a glance at the screen, Michelle frowned. "Corrupted files. Looks like memory ones."

"You need to stop that!" Felix continued on.

"Isaac." Freddy began. "You were in sleep mode when you were behind the wall. Why was Felix off?" he turned to look at the android, his paws twitching like he wanted to pull Felix's brain apart until it was better. "The entire group of you guys were all in sleep mode. Felix was the only one who was actually switched off."

"Why have you got their bodies?" Felix asked someone who was long gone in a desperate voice. "What are you going to do with them? If you were going to help them you would have- Hey, no!" he whined, a matching whine coming from the gears in his neck as he tried to cycle past the corrupted files that formed his memory of whatever he had lost. "You need to stop that!" he slumped slightly. "...Is-Isaac?"

The wolf bounded across the room on human-like feet, hands reaching up to cup the frog's cheeks. "I'm here." he whispered, fear altering his voice. "I'm here, always will be. Ya know I'm there when ya need me." he closed his eyes, stretching up onto his toes until his forehead was against Felix's. Isaac took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then nodded. 

"I think," Mike began quietly. "I might know why Felix has a virus and was shut off instead of in sleep mode." 

Freddy watched the two of them, the frog's arms wrapping around the former-wolf. "He saw Orsani or Fitzgerald. With the b-" he broke off, eyes shuttering quickly. "With the...Hiding them." his bottom jaw twitched, and he rotated his wrists. 

"I'd place my bets on Orsani." Mike whispered. "Fitzgerald, from what I know, does not seem stable enough to hide anything that needs to remain a secret."

Gently, Foxy leaned forward, placing his hand on Mike's shoulder. "Lad?"

"I'm okay." Mike turned to face him, a smile sliding into place. "I swear, I'm fine. See? Still upright. Not going to fall over." he gestured down at himself, shrugging. "It's been three weeks since I did the nearly dying thing."

"Yer face is pale an' yer arm ain't movin'." Foxy informed him. "I mean, it did, fer a second, but it jus' twitched an' then went all still." Ignoring the man's vague protests, Foxy picked him up, arranging him carefully in his arms so that the pirate's hook wouldn't dig in anywhere unpleasant. "I'm goin' ta act like yer own personal helper," the Captain grumbled, nudging softly at the side of Mike's head. "Yer goin' nowhere without me."

Mike nodded quietly, looking down at his arm, not saying anything.

With a nod of his own, Foxy retreated back to the door. Instead of going back to leaning against it, he pressed his back to the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. With Mike in his lap and curled close to his chest, Foxy looked up at Michelle. 

The mechanic was watching him, an eyebrow raised. 

"What is it, Lass?" Foxy asked quietly, petting almost absently at Mike's hair. "Yer eyes glued open?"

With a wry smile, she turned back to the situation at hand, biting at her bottom lip. 

 

"Hey Freddy?"

The former bear looked up from his new hands, eyes wide as he nodded. "Hnngh?"

"Well, first of all, I think that's a happy noise." Michelle grinned at him. When he nodded again, she sighed. "You've kept a really good inventory of the stuff I used to make your guy's new bodies, right? I mean, from what I've seen of your notes and stuff, it seems like you've kept an awesome one."

"I have, yes." he tried out the words with a working tongue, flipping the unfamiliar piece in and out of his mouth a couple of times. "Why do you ask?"

"Mike's body is breaking down." she rubbed at her face, watched Bonnie slip into the room in their new body and sidle up behind Freddy to put their own hands on his shoulders. "I think I'm going to try and build him a new one." she frowned, eyebrows furrowing deeply, mouth twisted almost painfully. "It's not like there's anything wrong with what forms his- Well...I hesitate to say soul, but that's the best description I have to work with."

Bonnie nuzzled their face into Freddy's cheek, their untamed curls flopping around their ears. "He's still alive." they whispered.

"Exactly. It's just that his body isn't." Michelle tugged at her hair. "I think that when he got knocked out of it, things started going haywire, and now he's running around in a corpse." her nose wrinkled. "Except that it doesn't smell wrong yet."

"I was handed an envelope." Freddy said, after a few minutes of considering the words. "Harris handed it to me, and he told me that he and his father found it by the backstage door."

With barely a pause in their action of pressing as much of their as much of their exposed skin against Freddy's as possible, Bonnie tilted their head to the side. "I remember seeing you holding it. What was in it, if I may ask?"

"A seal." Freddy wrinkled his nose, moving his lips slowly around the new sounds. "A drawing of something that was labeled, 'to seal the bastard in', with the initials HG at the bottom of the page." he paused again, cleared his throat like he wanted the experience, then nodded. "I remember seeing it carved into the door at one point."

"Oh!" Bonnie laughed. "The squiggly line thing!"

"Yes." Freddy looked at the being that was the receiver of his affection's. "It was carved in there by the young man who played Foxy." he turned back to Michelle, a smile stretched out across his cheeks. "Anyways, my point is that if it could apparently seal ghosts in, it might work to keep a spirit contained to an android body without the spirit going insane."

"And you're thinking that if I added it to the body," Michelle paused, wild hope running through her eyes. "You're hoping that it would help keep him stable."

"It would also give Foxy a little bit of help." Bonnie added, their eyebrows jumping in a sly little wiggle. "He's excited about being in a human shaped body, and it's not just because he was more broken than the rest of us." they giggled, more of a trill than a proper laugh, and squeaked as Freddy pulled them into his lap.

"I knew those two would be-" Michelle shrugged. "Nope. Not going there. I built the bodies, made them correctly, both mechanically and anatomically. Figured I'd give you all the choice of having sex lives. I don't think I want to know the results of that particular decision."

"Especially not when it comes to Mike?" Freddy asked, nuzzling his nose into Bonnie's hair. "You smell good." he told them quietly.

"Exactly. Now, I am going to leave you two alone, you have fun, don't break anything." she turned around, already looking up and towards the door that led out of the room. "Good night, you two. I'm glad you like the bodies. Tomorrow, you can bug Brianna about clothing to go on them besides what you already have."

She shut the door behind her, then speed walked for another part of the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My page count says that this chapter is just barely seventeen pages.
> 
> So, uh...
> 
> Enjoy. Tell me what you think?


	10. Oh But When The Lights Come On...

~_~R~_~E~_~W~_~R~_~I~_~T~_~E~_~_~T~_~H~_~E~_~_~E~_~N~_~D~_~

A door opened, a cluster of excited children running through it as a tired looking woman held it for them. 

Once inside, they're all greeted by a perky looking woman, red-brown hair curled into ringlets around her face as she smiles at them. Her teeth glint in the fading light of day as the door swings shut behind the newcomers. "Hey you guys!" she laughs, crouching down to be face to face with the kids. "Wanna tell me what's happening today?"

The tallest of the kids, a boy that looks to be about nine years old, throws his hands up into the air, a grin on his face as he shouts. "Birthday!"

"Oh!" the woman put a hand to her mouth, the seam of artificial skin around her wrist only barely visible. "Is it your birthday today?"

"Yeah!" he laughs, then turns to the woman who walked in with him. "Mom?"

His mother smiled, a hand curling around the straps of her purse on her shoulder. As she stepped forward, she tucked her hair behind her ear and reached down to pat her son on the head. "We have a reservation for eight, with four more coming to meet us here. The name on the party is Halder. Sorry about my son yelling."

The android woman shook her head. "It's fine. He's just excited." she looked down the list of names on the podium in front of her. "Yep, here you are!" she assured the mother as she tapped a finger on the paper. "My name is Dota, and I'm the hostess tonight. If there's any problems, you can come find me up here, or the manager at his station near the Cove." she gestured to a man with darker skin and black hair that sort of flopped over his face. "That's Mike, the manager."

Someone came from the area surrounding the Mainstage and led the group to their table.

Dota watched them go, then turned to a man who had come up behind her. "Charlie!" she squealed happily. "Did you see that? I got a kid who laughed when they came in the door!"

He clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I saw." with a smile, he gestured towards the stage. "Your act is coming up, Freddy wants to talk to you before you go on." Charlie nudged her away from the podium, draping himself over it as if he still resembled a cat. Dota went up on her toes, pressing a kiss to his cheek before wandering off.

On her way to the stage, she passed the Cove. Coming from inside were surprised gasps and shrieks of fear. She paused at the door, leaning against it as she watched Felix and Foxy have a sword fight that took them all over the room, the restored stage keeping them up and out of the way of the young on-lookers. "You'll never take me treasure!" Foxy hissed at the other android, posing with a hand above his head and his sword aimed forward. "Never!"

"Oh?" Felix laughed maniacally. "We'll see about that, Cap'n!"

They dove back into their fight, Felix's feet moving him around the Captain so fast that it was like there had never been anything wrong with him. Dota felt herself gasp in surprise as Foxy simply rolled his eyes and stuck a foot out to trip him up. Felix landed on his knees, and Foxy sighed. 

"I think," he began, crouching down to be on the same level as the fallen man. "That we may have a bit o' a misunderstandin' here. I said you'll never take me treasure." here he paused, then turned to the audience. "What be the magic word, crew? What say ye when yeh want somethin'?" and his grin grew even wider when the entire group of children, at once and so loud that the room almost shook with the volume of it, shouted, 

"YOU SAY PLEASE!"

Foxy nodded at them, a hand running through his bright red hair. "Ye say please!" he turned to Felix. "Yeh canno' take it, lad. But we can share it." he stood back up, offering the other android a helping hand up as well.

"Dota?" someone spoke quietly next to her. Dota turned, smiling when she saw Abbie. "Sorry to interrupt, I know Foxy's shows are always kind of awesome to watch, but Freddy wants to talk to you." Abbie grinned, a hand raised to pull the other android closer. "Don't worry, it's not anything bad. He justs wants to ask you what you think is the best arrangement for the memorial wall."

Dota nodded, turning on her heel to head over to where Freddy was.

On her way there, she passed several of the other androids. Isaac and Bernard were darting through the crowd of people, playing tag with several of the children. Among the group of kids running around with gleeful smiles on their faces was Harris, his plastic hook held high as he ran from his father. 

Bernard avoided almost crashing into Chica's side as she personally delivered a birthday dessert pizza to someone's table. At the last second, before he hit her, he swerved around, gathering a startled, "Oh!" from the mother of the child that was receiving his dessert.

"Don't worry kids!" Chica bubbled the words out, a happy smile on her face. In honor of where she had started, the apron she wore had the words, 'Let's eat!' on it, an anthropomorphic cupcake at the bottom, a speech bubble coming from it's mouth. "Bernard knows better than to knock me over!"

"Sorry Chica!" Bernard called back, trotting over to her with his son tossed over his shoulder. Harris gave her an upside down grin, his plastic hook tucked into his pocket. 

The three of them started singing to the birthday boy, the result of an act that was as carefully scripted as it could get. Dota smiled at the group of them, continuing on to the back room to meet with Freddy.

The back room had once been the backstage area.

Despite it's history of incidents and terror, it had been successfully converted, part of it cut off from the rest to store unused costumes still but the rest turned into an alcove. Currently, there was a curtain drawn over the opening, and as she drew closer, she could hear Freddy and Bonnie discussing how to hang the photos. "What do you think about this?" she heard one of them ask, almost too quiet to hear over the noise of the happy children that now filled the restaurant.

"I think we need to ask Dota. It concerns her." Freddy, that one was Freddy. 

Dota pulled the curtain open a little bit, clearing her throat. "Boss?" she waited a moment, then slipped through the thick purple fabric when he took her hand gently. "What did you need to ask me about? I mean, I know you wanted to talk to me about the memorial wall, but wha-" she cut off as she saw the framed photo on top of the small stack that he was holding.

"I-" Freddy looked down at it, running a careful finger over the glass that protected the face of the little girl in the frame. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang them up."

For a moment, Dota didn't say anything, simply took the top frame from him, pulled it close until she could only see the face of the little girl she had known the ghost of. In the photo, Diana was probably about nine, leaning on the railing of a boat of some kind. The background was the ocean, wind brushing the water up into picture perfect waves. That same wind had picked up the girl's hair, swirling it around her face. She was grinning, an expression that was somehow wild.

She looked happy.

"...Dota?" Bonnie asked quietly, ducking their head down so that they could see her face. "Dota, are you okay?"

She nodded, her fingers shaking as she ran them along the edge of the photo. "I- I'm okay. It just caught me a bit off guard, that's all." she looked up at the two of them. "Are we putting name plates under the photos?"

Freddy nodded, then tugged on the corner of a plastic bag that was hanging out of his pocket. "Got them right here." he went quiet for a moment. "Do you think that's a good photo of her?" he gestured down at a box on the floor. "There's a couple of others, her family found a couple of nice ones, and I thought that that one might be the best choice. Pirate Cove was always her favorite, right?"

"So you're going to hang her photo on the wall," Dota smiled at him, "With her ageless self on a ship." she hugged the frame to her chest. "I think it's perfect."

Bonnie handed her a hammer and nail, gesturing at the wall. "Pick a spot." They knelt down, rummaging through a stack of something. "I drew up a couple of possible layouts for the photos, but I wanted to ask you what you thought was best." They motioned her down, already spreading out the pages they had prepared. "We don't have to stick to these, I just wanted to-"

Dota leaned closer to them, setting the photo and hammer and nails down, pulled them into her arms. With a muffled whimper, she pressed her face into their shoulder, shoulders shaking as she started crying.

With a smile, Bonnie patted her back, hugging her just as tightly as she was hugging them. "I know." they whispered. "You miss her."

She nodded, and Freddy set down his armful, joining in on the hug, both of them pulled closer as he tried to soothe her. He met Bonnie's eyes over her head, and they both smiled at the same time. "Dota?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling away from Bonnie, rubbing at her eyes. "Sorry. I'm sorry about that."

"You're mourning her." Freddy brushed off her apology, thumbing away the tears on her face. "You're allowed to do that." he smiled at her too, crossing his legs as he sat all the way down. "We're setting this wall up so that they can all be remembered. Felix still has the same reaction to a couple of the photos as well, and he didn't get to know his ghosts nearly as well as you did. It's perfectly understandable."

Dota nodded, then looked up at him. "Thank you."

"We just have to make sure that it never happens again." Bonnie looked at the stack of photos that Freddy had set down, their face torn between sadness and anger. "No one ever gets to do that to kids here, not ever again." When Freddy nodded, they smiled at Dota. "Want to help me hang them up?"

She grinned at them, then picked the hammer back up. "Yeah." she tapped one of their drawings. "I think we should go with that one."

The first photo to be hanged was the one of Diana. The rest of the murdered children followed, photos ranging from the sixties to the eighties, small faces lit up with smiles that were extinguished before they grew up. When she was finished, Dota ran her fingers over every single frame, Freddy stepping in with an electric drill, attaching the nameplates to the wall in as permanent a way as he could manage.

When the entire wall was finished, the three of them stepped back and admired their work. 

Freddy put an arm around Bonnie's waist, pulling them closer to his side. "I think this looks awesome." he muttered, then turned to press a kiss to the former-rabbit's cheek. "We did good."

Bonnie laughed at him, their cheeks flushed and a hand running down their skirt, smoothing it back into place over their leggings. "I think we did, yeah." they looked at Dota. "What do you think? Does it look good enough to present to the public now?" They watched her, waiting for her answer as she tilted her head sideways.

"Yeah." Dota nodded finally. "It only took ten years for us to get all of the photos." 

Her gaze lingered on the one next to Diana's. A bushy haired little girl, caught in the moment she had been laughing and lurching back from a can of snakes joke being opened in her face. Her eyes were almost as big as saucers, and her two front teeth were missing. The nameplate beneath the photo read, in clear script, 'Rebecca Fitzgerald, 1956-1968'.

"This is never going to happen again." Dota whispered, fingers clenching her elbow tightly.

Freddy nodded, a calming hand on her shoulder as the three of them looked at the wall. "I'm still working on getting the pictures of all of the guards who died here as well." he reminded, his other hand on his hip. "No one should be forgotten."

With a smile, Bonnie leaned over until they could put their arm over Freddy's shoulders, patting reassuringly at Dota's. "I think we're going to make sure that no one ever is."

Dota laughed, the sound a little warped by the sob she was trying to hold back. 

"Do you think you're okay to go on tonight, or do you feel like hiding away for a while?" Freddy asked her, his face twisted in concern. "If you feel like hiding, that can happen. We've got the band back now, and Abbie knows the drum parts of the songs well enough to hold her own if necessary."

"I can go on." Dota smiled at him, brushing her hair out of her face. "Thank you for the option, but I can play tonight. I'm also needed in one of Foxy's shows later, so I might as well go on."

"As long as you feel okay with doing it." Freddy reminded her.

She kissed his cheek, then Bonnie's, humming the tune that had spread so much fear in the hearts of night guards as she left the alcove. 

"She's going to be alright," Bonnie assured Freddy quietly. "She's stronger than she seems."

"I just don't want her to breakdown because she's pushing herself too hard." Freddy shrugged. "It's been hard for all of us, but she was the only one of us who saw with their own eyes when one of the children was murdered. She's the only one who really got to know the ghost that shared her body for a time."

"I think it's cute that you're taking on a big brother role." Bonnie leaned up on their toes to press a soft kiss to Freddy's nose, trailing down to his mouth. 

Freddy wrapped his arms around Bonnie's waist. "I'm just trying to make everything okay again. We're finally getting the crowds of people we got in our heyday, with excited children coming in daily. We're not being avoided anymore, and we're not being shut in the dark again." he laughed. "I don't think we're going to be opening anymore branches, but I think we're going to be just fine if everything goes well."

"Plus the fact that there is now almost invasive background checks on each new employee." Bonnie grinned.

"I don't want another murderer to ever darken the halls again." Freddy almost growled the words out, lifting Bonnie into his arms and holding them close. "I want everything to be alright for everyone who comes here."

"It will be." Bonnie assured him, their foreheads pressed together.

 

~_~S~_~T~_~A~_~R~_~T~_~_~A~_~N~_~E~_~W~_~

 

Mike watched as the children wandered around the Cove, talking to some of the others of Foxy's crew.

With a smile, he looked for the Captain himself, feeling a vague sense of unease when he couldn't find him. It wasn't until he spotted Felix motioning behind him that he realized what was happening, and then it was too late. Arms wrapped around his waist, his back being pulled to someone's chest in an affectionate hug.

"Hi Mikey!" Foxy greeted cheerfully, his chin digging into the man's shoulder.

Despite the fact that it had startled him, Mike was pleased to see him. "Hey Foxy." he whispered, a smile on his face as he leaned closer, his cheek pressed to Foxy's for just a second. "Your show looked good tonight."

"Yeah?" Foxy grinned back at him, sharp teeth seeming less dangerous than they had only a few minutes before. 

Mike looked around, then leaned up and kissed him quickly. "It always does. It also always worries me, because swords and possible slip-ups, but I know you guys know what you're doing. I just panic a little bit." he gestured at Felix. "Especially when it's you two. you both get really into it, and then you trip him."

"We know what we're doin', lad." with an even wider grin, Foxy picked him up and pulled him into the Cove, heading for the mainstage. Mike gave a token struggle, rolling his eyes as Foxy set him on his feet in front of the hoard of small children with pirate themed outfits on. "Alright you lot!" he called to the group of them that stood around Reyna. She laughed as a couple of them hugged her, then shooed them towards Foxy. "This here be Mike!"

"HI MIKE!" the children chorused, their voices louder than he had thought possible for such small people. 

"Mike here be a friend o' ours, helped to make all o' this possible," Foxy gestured around the Cove, grin turning a bit impish. "I just wanted to introduce him ta ye." he patted Mike's shoulder. "Mikey?"

"I'm here to ask you guys what you think the proper way of dealing with someone who is angry is." Mike spoke up, a smile on his face. "If someone is trying to hurt you, what do you do? I'll take answers from someone who raises their hand." he looked around the room at the kids, then chose a random one to answer. "Yes?"

She stood up, then cleared her throat. "If they're the same age as you, try to get them to stop. Tell them to calm down?"

"Yes," Mike nodded. "That could certainly be something you could do. You mentioned them being the same age as you. What do you do if it's an adult, if it's someone the same age as your parents or your older brother?"

"Still me?" she asked, a finger pointing to her chest.

Mike smiled reassuringly at her. "Go ahead."

"You call the police." she bit her bottom lip, obviously nervous as she spoke. "If you're in danger and there's someone trying to hurt you, you call the police. If you can't call them, you find your family and stay with them."

"There we go." Mike nodded at her words. "You ask for help from someone you know, someone you trust."

The girl sat down again as the rest of the children clapped. 

A boy sitting not too far from her raised his hand in the air immediately. "What about you guys?" he asked, a slight lisp to his words. "Like Captain Foxy and Reyna?"

"We are always going ta do what we can ta protect ye lot." Foxy answered this time, kneeling down on the edge of the stage. "If ye are here, then we will keep ye safe. Our job, besides makin' it fun ta be here, is ta make sure that ye are all safe. Is it fun ta be here, kids?"

"YEAH!" came the combined shout of a couple dozen children.

The rest of the show passed in a blur for Mike. When he was finally able to make his way off the stage, he had to brace a hand on the wall to keep himself upright. As he headed for the entrance to the Cove, the young girl who had spoken up first started walking next to him.

"Hello Mike." she started, watching him with wide eyes. 

"Hey!" Mike grinned at her, stopping midstep. "What's your name, by the way? Most kids wouldn't know to call the police."

"I'm Isabella Iris Havenstock." she held out a hand, eyes a stormy blue as she watched him. "Are you okay? You're leaning against the wall like you're going to fall over." she waited for him to answer, only looking away once. Isabella waved one of the other androids over, a smile on her face when Edward came over. "Mike?"

Edward watched the two of them carefully, a hand out like he was preparing to catch Mike.

"I'm fine." Mike felt the pressure in his head lessen, suddenly able to stand upright all the way. "Sorry, just dizzy. Anyways..." he cleared his throat, looking back at the girl. "I'm glad that you know to call the police in case of emergency. How old are you?"

"I'm eleven." she told him, her smile showcasing an empty spot in her jaw. It was on the right side, right in front of one of her canine teeth. 

Mike looked at her. "You're eleven?"

"I know, I know. Five foot four, makes for a very strange looking eleven year old." she gestured down at herself. "We've had this conversation before, Mike." she frowned. "Of course, I was ten last time you saw me."

"...We've met before?" Mike raised an eyebrow. "Did I forget? I'm sorry about that."

Isabella laughed, then leaned forward and hugged him. "It's fine. It's been over a decade since then. I'm glad that you fixed things here, Mike." she pulled back, grinned up at him, then looked around the room again. "Tell the others that I missed them? I have to go find my mom and sister now. Regina likes the Mainstage better than she likes the Cove, so she's probably out there right now."

"Wait, what?" Mike looked confused as she started turning away. 

"Mike," Isabella began, her little voice stern. "You know who I used to be. Pirate Cove has always been my favorite." she walked away this time, heading for the exit. "Tell Dota I said hi?"

Edward watched her go, his arms behind his back in a parody of a military officer as he stood there. 

Mike blinked a couple of times, then turned to him. "Could you go get Foxy for me? I think I'm about to faint." he leaned back against the wall, trying to vent heat out of his body carefully, measured breaths in time with the taps of his knuckle on the wall behind him.

"I will." Edward assured him, then turned on his heel and marched off, a direct path cut across the room as the Cove shut down to prepare for the next show.

In a few minutes, Foxy was sitting on the floor with Mike in his lap. Around them, the rest of the crew was resetting the Cove, Michelle leading the team that was needed to reset the false cannons that stood on the stage that had been decorated to look like a real pirate ship. "Mike?" he asked quietly, hands pulling the slimmer male close. "Are ye alright?"

"I think," Mike began when he could speak. "That I may have just run into Diana again. Her name was Isabella, and she talked like Diana, remembered my name, looked like her, had some of the same characteristics, and she hugged me and I think I might be having a bit of a panic attack?" he formed it into a question, trying to stay calm as Foxy rubbed slow circles into his back. "She asked me to tell Dota that she said hi." he rubbed a hand down his face, trying to breathe. "She was missing the same tooth that Diana was."

Foxy was silent for a minute, shifting so that his back was against the wall and he could press Mike into his chest, a hand in his hair. "It's alright." he spoke softly, nuzzling his face. 

"I have never known what goes on after death except in connection to this place..." Mike muttered, rubbing at his forehead. He sighed, the buried his face in Foxy's chest. "Goddamn, seriously. Just- Goddamn." his nose scrunched up as he thought about it, his arms reaching up so he could wrap them around Foxy's shoulders. 

Someone behind them cleared their throat.

Both of them turned to look, Foxy's arm going around Mike's waist protectively. "Yes?" he almost hissed, the word basically dripping in venom.

The man that had interrupted looked pink in the face, a flush of embarrassment as he took in the sight of the two of them. "I just was looking for Mike Schmidt. I was told that he was in here." he ran a hand through the hair on his head, which was still a deep chestnut brown, despite the fact that he looked to be in his late fifties. 

"That's me." Mike confessed, looking down at his knee. The look on his face said that he was seriously debating whether or not it was worth it to get up from his current seat. "Who are you?"

The man came closer, a hand extended. "William Bradect." he introduced himself. "I played Foxy originally. I just wanted to meet the man responsible for reviving this place." he grinned, a set of pearly white teeth shining in the soft light of the Cove. "I remember this stage with fondness, so I was glad to hear that the business wasn't failing anymore." he looked at Michelle, waving to her when she spotted him. "I also came to see my daughter."

"...Is Michelle your daughter?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

William laughed. "Oh, no. Not yet. She might be in the future, if my daughter's plans go as she wants them to." he chuckled once more. "My daughter is Brianna."

"Holy shit, you married Chica." Mike blinked at the man, jaw dropped so far that he could almost feel it against his chest. The words startled another laugh out of William, and he sat himself down on the floor next to them as he clutched at his stomach, his laugh a deep baritone sound as it left him. 

"Yes, I did do that." he answered once he wiped away the laughter induced tears. "It appears that the Foxy that came after me did not follow that pattern."

Foxy hid his nose in Mike's shoulder. "Happier with my guard, thank ye."

"The voice you have is my younger one." William marveled, smiling brightly. "Anyways, I wanted to meet the one responsible for keeping this place alive, and I wanted to know if you knew where my daughter is."

"I think she's on a clothing run right now," Mike frowned, thinking. "She said something about going shopping for better costumes for some of the ladies of Pirate Cove and the Mainstage. She's helping keep this place alive, in the same amount that I am."

William tilted his head at him. "Really?" he leaned forward, taking Mike's hand in his own. "Because I don't recall my daughter having a sealing sigil carved into the inside of her arm." He let go when Mike pulled his arm back. "I know when the sigil I carved into the wall gets used on something else. I'm glad that you're still around to keep this place around, but I have to know if you're feeling anything wrong with your body."

"Why did you carve it there?" 

A sigh streamed from the man's mouth. "Because I wanted, if it was something that was going to occur, to keep any possible ghosts bound to one location." he met Mike's eyes. "When Jeremy started going off the rails, I knew that it might lead to him becoming a murderer. Any victim of his would have died in rage and hatred. If they were allowed off the premises, then they would have spread that curse to the rest of the city."

"Ye do realize," Foxy cut in, a glare on his face. "That what ye did lead ta the deaths of several guards at the hands of us? There be at least sixteen guards who died because o' the ghosts o' the children Jeremy killed. They saw the uniform o' the night guards, connected it ta the one who killed them, and attacked using our bodies."

"...At least sixteen?" William questioned, his eyes wide. 

"I lost count." Foxy snarled back, hands tightening around Mike's waist. "I had the highest body count, because I moved the fastest, other than Freddy."

"How did it get stopped?"

Mike raised his hand into the air. "I started working here. I took the night shift, had to listen to my predecessor die on tape, and then I found the bodies of children in the wall. I'm also the one who helped Foxy set fire to the 'Out of Order' sign that Orsani had put up in front of the Cove."

"He only survived because he knew what was actually happening." Foxy hissed, his teeth bared in a threat display. "One o' the ghosts turned out ta not be as violent as the others."

"I survived because I had an informant," Mike continued on. "If they hadn't been bound here, then they wouldn't have had time to get stuck in the same cycles of hatred, death and destruction." he nodded at the now open purple curtain that had hidden away Pirate Cove for a decade. "I made it so that things wouldn't suck as much."

"I didn't know..." William spoke quietly, his face pale as he looked between the two of them.

"Which is why I'm going to keep myself between you and Foxy." Mike made a face, lacing his fingers with the pirate's. "I had a feeling that you had no clue what it was that was caused by them being here."

"Dad?" Brianna called from the front of the room. 

William turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "Hey pumpkin." he heaved himself off of the floor, brushing off his pants before walking over to her and pulling her into a hug. "So I heard that you do clothing shopping for the people who work here now?"

"I do, yeah." she shook the bags that were hanging on her arm, the sound of fabric rustling inside of them. "I make sure that the ones who have to look a certain way look that way. Georgia also ripped her work skirt the other day, so I had to get her a new one." she turned to Mike. "I'm going to mark it down as a work expense, alright?"

"How'd she rip it?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. 

"An incident involving a birthday cake, Harris, and a block of knives that was set too close to the edge of the counter." Brianna replied, her face grim. "We barely avoided her losing a chunk of skin."

"Okay, yeah, that's a work expense." Mike shuddered. "No one got hurt?"

Brianna nodded. "I don't think so. Harris was a little freaked, but other than that, no one complained about anything. And you know Michelle, she's got the pain sensing systems up and running. You guys are practically flesh and blood."

"Well-" Mike started, then realized that William was still listening. "Ah. Should have mentioned, huh? I'm not actually human, not anymore."

William nodded slowly. "Michelle works in robotics and repair of said field." he began slowly, looking between his daughter and Mike. "I suppose you're one of the androids that she built?" he looked back at Foxy. "And what about him?"

"Technically, I'm not an android." Mike put a hand on his own chest. "I'm an empty shell, and I am, according to Michelle, a lot more complicated than an android. I'm literally an empty robotic body, with a ghost tied in. I was alive, I'm also technically still alive. I never actually died in a way that stayed dead." 

"Huh." William looked at Brianna, his eyes wide. When she simply smiled back, he turned to Mike again.

Mike patted at Foxy's shoulder. "He's an android. I'm a living ghost."

"There is territory that I know." William latched onto what was being said now, looking a bit relieved. "You're a spirit, and you're tied in to your current body with the sigil I carved into the wall. I know that much, at least, even if I cannot understand much else about your situation."

"I kind of died when I was a kid. Got shoved back in, grew up, and then I got yanked from my body by the ghost of Jeremy Fitzgerald." Mike summed up, shrugging in a 'What can you do' sort of way. "When I got back into it, it started decaying at an advanced rate. Michelle barely got me into a new body before I would have been gone completely." he turned all the way around in Foxy's lap now, his back to the Captain's front. "We should probably start getting up and out of the way so that the next show can go on."

Brianna nodded, taking her father's arm in hers and leading him out of the Cove. As they went, Mike heard her ask, "Is mom doing well today?"

"That could definitely have gone better." Mike muttered as he stood up, then helped Foxy to his feet. He squeaked when Foxy pulled him close again, pinning him up against the wall and pressing their lips together. 

"At least it distracted you." Foxy spoke against his lips when he pulled back, one hand on the wall to try and balance the both of them. 

"Yeah..." Mike met his eyes, his own wide and slightly dazed. After a few moments, he grinned, going up on his toes to kiss Foxy's neck, then pulled himself away and walked out of the Cove. "Last show of the day before you take your break!" he called back, trying to act like he hadn't just been making out with the Pirate Captain.

It didn't seem to work, considering that Frieda met him at the door and cackled at the flushed pink color in his cheeks.

Foxy chewed on the tip of his finger, grinning as he watched Mike walk away. After a minute, when he couldn't see the other man anymore, he turned back to the stage, hopping up on the edge of it and accepting his sword from Reyna. 

"So, you two seem to be doing well." she teased.

He shook his head, tapping a finger to his lips. "This ol' Cap'n don't kiss and tell." he bit his bottom lip as he started walking through the sequence of steps that would have him going through the motions of accepting Edward into his crew.

Reyna stood off to the side, her hands twisted together in the fabric of her skirt. "I wanted to ask you something." she spoke after a few minutes of watching him do a short run through. When he turned to face her, the tip of his sword in the stage between his feet, she sighed, a hand scrubbing tiredly at her face. 

"What is it ye wanted ta ask me? Ye seem ta be all knotted up with it." he slid his sword into the sheath on his belt. "Lass?" stepping forward when she hid her face in her hands, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Reyna?"

"I know that I told you all that there was probably no reason to bring the group I got used to back to the waking world." she began quietly, hands over her face. 

"Is there really a reason?" 

She looked up at him, pink eyes meeting his own as she searched his face for something. "My version of Chica. Their sentience was copied over, all three of them, but something went...I hesitate to say wrong, because it's not the correct word. They developed their own personalities, and their own lives. I told Michelle not to bring them back because they had been malfunctioning." she sniffed softly, hands still on her cheeks, her fingertips digging in. 

"Were ye lyin'?" he raised an eyebrow, tucking his sword into the sheath on his belt. 

"I wasn't, that's the worst part." she shook her head, her curls bouncing with the movement. "The friendly looking versions of them had been malfunctioning, so I told her not to bring them back. It's just-" she cut herself off, then looked at her feet as she spoke. "I miss Chica. My version of her. We were much like you and Mike, but two females instead of two males."

Foxy put a hand on her shoulder. "Reyna?" his voice was softer than it usually was. "I think we need ta talk ta Michelle about this. When did they start malfunctioning?"

"I don't-" she looked at him again, eyes wide as she thought about it. "When Jeremy started working in that branch. We have the criminal recognition database, and they started malfunctioning when he started working there. I wasn't- Mine wasn't malfunctioning, so I was left awake longer than they were. Jeremy popped up in the system with a warning, but I never really paid attention to it because he was a night guard, not anything really connected to the children."

"When we pulled ye out o' yer box," Foxy put both of his hands on her shoulders now. "Ye had another endoskeleton attached ta ye."

"And I had blacked out moments." she whispered, hands dropping to her sides. "I'd wake up in a different spot on the stage they had for me." she was venting heavily now, her chest rising and falling with it. "I don't remember who the endoskeleton belonged to."

"I have an inkling." Foxy grabbed her hand in his own, leading her out of the Cove. He paused for a moment, flipping the sign at the front of it to the side that read, 'Show will be back soon, Mateys!' and continued to walk out of the area with Reyna at his side. They made their way back to Michelle's office, the Captain barely pausing to knock before entering. Once inside, he sat Reyna down in a chair, turning to the mechanic. 

"Foxy?" Michelle raised an eyebrow, then put down the tablet pen she had been holding. On the screen, a newer design for one of the other androids waited for her attention. "Is something wrong?"

"Couple o' things." he started, leaning on the desk next to her workstation. "First, we need to dig the other version o' Chica outta storage, boot her up, then give her a new body."

"Any particular reason?"

Foxy gestured at Reyna. "It don't seem right ta let the lass be on her own when her lover is inna box and we can do somethin' about it."

Michelle put a hand to her mouth, eyes wide as she looked at Reyna. "That totally counts as a reason to bring her back, by the way!" she whispered between her fingers as she looked at the pink toned woman. Reyna met her eyes, a bewildered smile on her face as the mechanic turned back to her computer and pulled a new document open, already sketching a design. "You said first, does that mean that there's a second thing?"

"We need ta dig the bare bones body that Reyna was in out o' storage as well, because it has evidence o' the other murders." Foxy nodded when Michelle dropped her tablet pen. It rolled onto the floor, unnoticed by the three of them. "It has the old endoskeleton o' the version of Golden Freddy that was at the other branch tangled with it. The two o' them were mangled together." he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "And I get the feelin' that we're gonna need ta lock them both away while we fix the criminal recognition databases in their heads."

"Why does that mean it has evidence of the murders?" Michelle looked between the two pirates, an eyebrow raised. "I thought there was only the ones that happened here."

"Because," Foxy crossed his arms over his chest. "Jeremy Fitzgerald worked there, having transferred from this location."

Before Michelle could say anything, he held up a hand to stop her. 

"And also because," he continued. "Reyna has blacked out spots in her memories, such as what would happen if two animatronics were fighting for control of one body."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends the first section of this story!
> 
> I'm gonna wait a little while before writing anything else for these guys, because holy shit my brain is a little fried from writing this much in this short of time. This will eventually be a series, if you all feel like I should post more.

**Author's Note:**

> So...  
> In the time since I last updated things, I fell headfirst into a new fandom. And decided to make a fic.  
> That'll probably end up being longer than the entirety of the 'Dreams of' series.


End file.
